Witch: The Devil's Birthday Party
by Clayton Overstreet
Summary: Sneaking out to see her favorite band perform at a mysterious private function a girl gets more than she imagined.


Witch: The devil' birthday

By, Clayton Overstreet

Destiny rarely tells people what it has planned for them. Possibly because it is only taking credit for coincidence and free will. More likely because if they knew the people involved would just kill themselves.

Samantha Redgrave did not set out to be a witch. At sixteen her goals in life involved saving up enough money to buy a decent car and finding a decent guy to date. It should have been easy, except she was pretty ugly. Not hideous, but she was short and overweight with a bulbous nose and small piggy eyes. She has acne too. Not out of control pizza faced, but still enough for people to notice. Add in her greasy hair that stayed stringy no matter how many trips to the salon she took and you might as well tattoo the word "Spinster" across her face.

Her parents were the same way. Hank Redgrave was a construction worker, short squat, but well muscled. His wife Jane was a little taller than him and a little better looking in the face, but she was fat and did not even try to hide it. She spent most of her time on housework and running bake sales for their local church and had no qualms about pinching the best deserts for her and her daughter.

Sam tried going to a gym once when she was fourteen and feeling fat, but that lasted about three hours most of which she spent learning to play racquetball. She never went back again or played the game. Eating raw cookie dough was far more satisfying and made her feel better instead of achy. It was not like any amount of exercise ever helped anyway.

Overall she was a good girl. She had about half a dozen close friends she could hang out with by the local lake and while rarely getting an A her grades never fell below a C except in gym. She did have a certain talent in art like paintings, statues, ceramics, and photography. There was even a chance she would get a scholarship to college out of that.

Not that her life was perfect by any means. She had a driver's license but had not been allowed to use it more than twice in the year since she got it and both times had involved having parental guidance and a trip of less than a mile. Not that there was anywhere to go in Snake's Fork, ex-logging town turned ski resort. The last interesting thing to happen in the little village was thousands of years before when some Vikings made a brief stop over before packing up and going home due to an especially harsh winter and a complete lack of interesting scenery. Even the local natives never built a village near Snake's Fork. Not because it was holy land or anything, they just had no interest in it.

Downstairs at breakfast she smiled at her mom who was happily dishing out pancakes. "Hi mom, is dad already out the door?"

"You know how it is sweetheart. He has to start early."

"Any chance he's saving up to get me a car? For my birthday tonight?"

Mom patted my head. "Sure he is. And next week they're opening a new Disneyland down the road." Sam snorted. "What do you need a car for? Walking is practically the only exercise you get."

"Yeah, whatever." She sat down to have breakfast.

"Oh I heard something interesting at church yesterday," Jane said. Sam always left right after service. To tell the truth she would prefer not to go in the first place. Not that Jane listened to her arguments like "God is everywhere so why should I have to go to church?" That had not worked so she sat through what she had to and ditched out as soon as possible.

Sam sighed. "What is it? Did they get a new color in at the carpet store?" She took a bite of food. Man her mom was a good cook.

Jane sneered. "No little Miss Snooty. That band you like is coming to town."

Sam looked up, syrup on her lips. "You mean _The_ _Devas Live_?" TDL was the hottest band in the world. Out of nowhere they had risen to the top of the charts faster than anyone in ten years and their popularity stayed up. They came out with a new album every six months for the last three years that always skyrocketed to number one over night. "They're coming here? Are you serious?"

"Yes. Some out-of-towner's rented that old warehouse on Mason Drive for a private birthday party. I heard the mayor and Mr. Samson talking. They had to apply for all kinds of permits and things and they've got the whole block cut off from sunset to sunrise. All the immediate neighbors were given a check for five thousand dollars to not complain for the night and to stay out of it."

Jane's information was always good. She was the town gossip and knew how to get all the information in Snake's Fork like a tubby ninja. "Wow… so it's just for the private party? They're not having a concert or anything?" Her mother shook her head. It was cool but disappointing. "Why come all the way out here?"

"Well dear, these singers of yours are very popular and whoever these rich people are they probably want some privacy. Can you think of anyplace less likely for reporters and autograph hounds to come to break in on their fun?"

Sam shook her head. "No, there's no fun to be had here." She frowned. "I can't believe this. TDL is in town on my birthday and I can't get in." She pursed her lips. "Maybe if I was outside I could at least listen…"

"Not a chance," Jane said. "It may be your birthday, but it is still a weeknight and the police are instituting a curfew to make sure nobody goes in who isn't on the guest list. So you'll be a good girl and go to bed like you are supposed to."

"Sure mom," Sam said. "Jeez why did you tell me about this?" She finished the rest of her breakfast quickly and headed to get her school bag by the door. "Later mom. Love you."

"Love you too," she called at the closing door.

At school during the early break Sam met up with her friends. There were the twins Tony and Toni, brother and sister with red hair and freckles. Lacey, the daughter of the only two black people in town who was a year older than the rest of them and overweight like Sam. Janice who was actually very pretty with long blond hair and blue eyes. Raul a buck toothed Mexican kid whose parents ran a DVD rental store. And Max, Raul's boyfriend who was buff, blond, and a wide receiver for the football team. In her mind she would always remember it like a script.

Sam: So mom tells me that TDL is going to be in town tonight on my birthday.

Others: No way!

Sam: Yes way. Some rich guy's rented out a whole block around an old warehouse in town for a private birthday party.

Tony: Sick!

Janice: Can we go?

Lacey: I want to see them too.

Toni: Oh right, like our parents would even let us out of the house on a school night. Right bro?

Tony: I know our mom wouldn't let my sister and me go. They don't even let us listen to TDL without headphones.

Toni: Dad thinks they do devil's music like the _Rolling Stones_ or something.

Raul: My mom still has me grounded since I came out.

Mike: I could go if I wanted. We just won the state championship. My dad would let me drive to Tijuana with Raul and watch a donkey show while swigging tequila at this point.

Sam: Hey, it's my birthday, not yours.

All: (Laugh)

Toni: Why don't we sneak out and go anyway?

Others: (Looking around nervously)

Toni: Oh come on. So we get grounded. What's the worst they can do to us?

Sam: Nothing worse than missing out on a live TDL concert. I mean it's not like they're ever coming anywhere near Snake's Fork again. I'm in.

Raul and Mike: Us too!

Tony: I guess…

Janice: I'd rather die than miss it.

Lacey: I'm in!

(Bell rings. Everyone goes back to class.)

It was such a play. During lunch they talked about it. How they would sneak out of their houses and hurry through town to the warehouses, most of which held feed and grain. It was such a strange thing to happen that they could barely believe it. It was like a meteor crashing into the Earth or getting a Porch for your birthday. Technically possible, but so unlikely that nobody would really expect it. After school they all met up outside and Toni said, "So it's agreed. We'll meet on the corner of Candle Street and Dexter Avenue at nine and we'll walk through the park and slip through the fence by the pond."

"Will the party still be going on?" Janice asked.

Sam said, "I don't think people who rent a whole warehouse and hire the most popular band on Earth to go to bed early. Besides it's October, so sunset isn't until almost seven. Two hours in they will probably just be warming up. If nothing else I'll wait outside until they leave and get them to sign something."

Everyone agreed and they all went to Sam's house. Sam felt a guilty thrill go up her back as she imagined what it would be like. When she got home her mother and father were waiting for her and her friends. There was a large cake on the table. It was in the shape of a cute pink bear.

"Happy birthday!" Her friends and parents yelled out. There were some presents on the table already along with some envelopes she knew were from relatives who had sent checks. Her friends pulled packages out of their backpacks and soon they were all around the table eating cake as Sam eyed the presents with undisguised greed.

Oddly enough when her mother finally let her start tearing off the wrappers she found that she was faking it. Oh she loved the presents. A great sweater she had eyed a few times, a new snowboard, and a music player. The cash, checks, and gift certificates added up to over three hundred dollars. Naturally she liked them all, but compared to her plan for later that night they paled.

Still she kept her smile in place and made appreciative comments over each gift. Her parents were happy and her friends partied. Her parents even let them play her new TDL CD that Lacey got her at full volume.

"Did you get me a car?" She asked her dad.

He laughed. "No, but if you save up your money you could get something in a few months."

Toni laughed. "Yeah Sam, you could buy farmer Baker's old tractor and use it to cruise around in." Her friends laughed.

"None of you have cars either," she pouted.

"That's because we're never leaving this town," Raul said. "Mike may have a chance."

"Please. At best we'll all be going to state college. I'm not exactly NFL material."

Sam caught her mother's furtive glance to Hank. Jane was a nice lady, but she was always uncomfortable around gay people. Sam was unsure of herself, if she liked boys or girls or both. This was not something she discussed with her mom though. Sometimes she got the feeling Jane was five steps away from calling an exorcist just to deal with every teeny teen problem her daughter had. Maybe because she was religious or because her father had been single, Grandma Eustis having died in childbirth. She had never had a female role model that was not on TV or in the bible. Sometimes Sam wondered if she was basing her whole life on a black and white sitcom.

Sam had once, when she was fourteen, overheard her parents making love through the walls of their house and the next day had joked at breakfast, "Ward, weren't you a little hard on the beaver last night?" Her mother had slapped her until her cheeks swelled up. Since then sex had been something Sam did not talk about with her mother and Jane never brought it up either. Sam never expected to get laid anyway.

Still Jane smiled and offered them more cake, pretending nothing was wrong. Sam was just grateful that nobody had noticed she was doing the same thing. The CD ended and almost like they had rehearsed it the party ended. "Thanks for everything guys, I mean it." They all hugged and started to leave. "See you _later_."

"You bet," Toni said and they all left.

Her mother said, "Well that was delightful."

"Want to play the CD again?" Sam teased.

"No," both her parents said. Hank said firmly. "You can play with your new toy and your _headphones_ when you finish your homework."

"Okay," she said and gave him a hug. "I love you daddy."

"Love you too baby," he said.

She hugged Jane too and kissed her cheek then headed up the stairs, yawning. "You know I think I'm just going to go right to sleep when I'm done. My belly has half a cake sitting in it and I'm still not used to the school schedule yet. Are you guys sure I can't do home schooling?"

"Yes," they said together.

"So unfair. Well anyway I'll skip dinner tonight if you don't mind."

"I'll leave a covered plate outside your door incase you get hungry," Jane said. "I already ordered a pizza anyway."

"Great. If I don't eat it tonight I can have it for breakfast. I love cold pizza in the morning."

"If I leave you any," Hank teased.

Sam waved him off. "Guess I'll have to see in the morning."

The alarm clock was stuffed under her pillow. Sam had never snuck out of the house before. What for? Except when her Girl Scout troop had gone out to look at owls and make s'mores there had never been a reason to stay out at night. Maybe if there was something on television or a new movie they might stay up a little late, but what would be the point in running around town at night?

Still it was not as if she had never thought of it before. So she heard the muffled alarm go off under her pillow and woke up at 8:35. She had already taken a shower after she finished her homework. Putting on her new clothes from the party she popped the screen out of her window and hopped out, leaving her room empty. She considered piling up some pillows or something to hide her absence, but she figured that if her parents checked on her it did not matter. The worst they could do was ground her. How was that different than any other day? Would she be banned from the library for a week?

She would rather go to hell than miss out on her chance to see TDL in person

Slipping out the window into her backyard she was glad her house only had one story. If she had to jump down she might have backed out. It felt like she was escaping some kind of prison. Both a sense of freedom and a terror as if bloodhounds were already nipping at her heels. It was terrifying and she loved it.

She ran for blocks until he could hear music in the distance. Along the way she did not see even one police car. Not too surprising. There were only about a dozen police in town and most of the youngest were over thirty. Three around twenty, but they were all going to online college and spent their nights studying. There was probably one car circling town after nine and most likely the guys driving it pulled over and went to sleep somewhere.

She went to the meeting place. Sam felt a chill in he night air. In Main it got real cold real early. She was very glad she was wearing a sweater. In the chill she felt her heart beating like a drum, almost matching the distant music. "The people who lived close to the warehouse are not getting any sleep tonight," she said.

Checking the time she cursed. It was 9:17 already. Even held up at least half of her friends should have arrived before she did. Now it had been over a half hour. "Those shits!" Her mother would have swatted her for cursing like that. Jane did not even like her daughter watching R rated movies. "They aren't coming.

"Well screw them!" She resisted the urge to slink back home with her tail between her legs. She turned and headed for the park, mumbling. "Can't believe those losers left me to do this on my own. I'll just bet they thought I'd chicken out too…" She kept up the complaints as she slipped through the fence. The anger kept her going, that and the muffled pounding music filling the air. She could almost make out their voices, but inside she could also hear pounding feet. They were having a blast inside.

The back door was locked when she tried it and the windows were too high to climb in. Not that there was any theft in town. Maybe some vandalism and speeding, but that was it. It was just the way the place was built. She doubted the side doors had ever been unlocked.

So she snuck around to the front where a large man stood in a dark suit. He was not a happy looking person, almost seven feet tall and bald. His shoulders were twice as wide as her body. Still he did not look too bright. Maybe she could talk her way past him.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," she said, running up. Has the party already started?"

He nodded. "About an hour ago." He held up a clipboard. Sam gasped as she realized his other hand was missing. "What's your name?"

"Uh… it's Samantha Redgrave." Somehow she could not bring herself to lie.

"You're not on the list. Nobody goes in who isn't on the list."

"Can I see? Maybe I'm on another page." He handed her the clipboard.

She looked at the names, pretending to read. Wow, there were some weird ones on here. Who named their kid Prometheus? Saraquael? Were they from another country? She slowly turned the page. Wow, there must have been a hundred people in there besides the band. Her eyes left the names… some of them written with letters she could not even identify. Sam's eyes caught on the pen under the clip part and then over to the bouncer. Her foot tapped something and she saw a rock by her foot.

No way would that work. It was the oldest trick in the book. Oh what the hell.

There was a clang from the metal wall of the warehouse and a rattle against the street. The guard turned, jaw clenched and muscles flexing. God he was big! Even with one hand he could tear Sam apart. Right now as he scanned the area like he would pounce on anything that moved. If she had been paying attention she might have seen the yellow glint to his eyes and heard the animalistic growl in his throat.

Instead she slipped out the pen and wrote her name on the back of the first page. She slipped it back and then said, "There it is?"

The guard seemed to remember she was there and turned. He snatched the list out of her hand. "Where?" She listed the page and pointed. He turned and glared at her, his lip curling. Boy did his teeth look sharp. And his eyes were so big. "Do you honestly expect me to believe…?"

The door opened and music came blasting out. "What's going on here?"

She turned and saw a tall man standing there. He was thin and to her surprise towered several inches over the guard. His hair was blood red, shading to orange and then blond at the top. A great dye job that went all the way to the roots. It almost seemed to shimmer like real fire. Sam wondered where he got it done. Under it he wore a pair of sunglasses on a long nose. He wore the kind of clothes she normally saw in magazines or TV shows. Sam could not tell how old he was.

"She was trying to sneak in."

"Is her name on the list?"

"Yes, but she…"

"Tyr I told you, if they're on the list they can come in."

"Loki…" The man raised a red eyebrow. "Fine." He turned to the girl and snarled. "Head on in if you want, but if I were you I'd head home while you still can."

"Head home?" Loki said. "When the party just started?" He held the door open. Inside she could head music and see forms dancing among flashing lights and cheering loudly as they had fun. Laughter filled the air. It was definitely TDL, though she did not recognize the song. "Well, are you coming?"

Almost in a trance Sam walked past him and into the warehouse. Behind her the door closed with a certain finality. "Is this a costume party?"

The man behind her laughed, loud and hard. "Not exactly. Kind of the opposite actually. So you got past Tyr! Sorry he is such a jerk, but eve since my son Fenrir bit his hand off and turned him into the first werewolf he's been kind of a pill."

Sam could barely hear him over the noise around her. It echoed off the metal walls. Lights in every color flashed everywhere, though she could not see a mirror ball or even where they were coming from. The people were in amazing costumes, the kind you normally saw in movies rather than a costume shop.

One man walked by in a t-shirt, but his legs looked like they had come from a deer. Antlers stretched from his head and his eyes glowed green. Another man with red hair who looked like he was half cobra in an Egyptian pharaoh outfit danced with a woman with gray skin, batwings, and long vicious claws. People dressed as realistic corpses draped in heavy black chains walked among them with trays of food. Some of it looked delicious. Some of it was moving. A woman in a gorgeous dress took something squirming off a tray and put it in her mouth. Her left half looked like a gorgeous supermodel. The other side, split right down the middle, was a rotting zombie. She could see her food through her teeth, trying to escape through her rotten cheek.

"How do they do makeup like that?" She said out loud without thinking.

Loki laughed and put a huge land on her shoulder. It felt like he could crush her with a though, but he was still smiling. "Trade secret. Here, have some chips." He held out a bowl. She took one and chewed, still looking around at the myriad of monsters. In between she noticed some normal people too.

"Oh my… is that…?"

"Yes it is. He took off time from his new movie to be here. After all, he owes the party's patron everything. And if you look over there and over there…"

Sam gasped. In between the costumes she saw famous faces. Actors, politicians, and famous entrepreneurs… people you would recognize even if you lived in a cave. "Holy cow!"

"Over there," Loki said, pointing to a passing monster that looked like a minotaur with fangs that somehow was actually scarfing down a tray of sandwiches made of what looked like real fingers. Sam giggled nervously. "Would you like to meet the life of the party?"

"What?" Sam asked.

"You don't know who this is for, do you?"

She shook her head. "No. I… I was kind of pretending it was mine. It is my birthday too."

"Really? Then you have to meet him." He bent down as he pushed her through the crowd. "I'll give you two tips. He can smell fear and you should not believe everything written by people who seriously believed the Earth was flat."

The place had furniture moved in like a dance club. Several booths had been installed along with tables and chairs. She was being pushed towards the darkest corner of the room where one booth was separate from everything else.

They arrived at the back table. There was a person sitting there, hidden by the shadows until they got close, with dark hair and a goatee that looked so sharp it could have been used as a pencil. On his back was a pair of white wings with feathers so real they probably had been harvested from swans. They flexed, presumably with some hidden motor inside or something. His skin was red as Loki's hair and he smiled showing off fangs. His eyes though, were blue and seemed to glow with an inner light. Sam wondered where she could get contacts like that. Two small horns, short but sharp, stuck out of his forehead.

"Sam, I'd like you to meet… Sam. It's her birthday too. She snuck in by stealing Tyr's list and distracting him so she could put her name on it."

The man laughed and extended his hand, black nails shining like obsidian. "Wonderful! I always appreciate a good deception. I'm Samael. Who might you be?"

Brought up to be polite she took his hand. To her surprise the red skin did not feel like it was covered in makeup. "Samantha. Sorry I crashed your party."

"There's plenty of room and it's been a while since anyone has tried it," he said. Waving to a seat next to him he said, "To tell the truth we've barely gotten started."

She took the seat and Loki scooted in next to her, trapping her between him and Samael. "I told you this would be a great place to party. I was here when they first discovered this spot and I have to say you can't get any closer to nowhere without walking through Hell itself."

"No kidding," Sam said. Samael motioned to one of the shambling servers who brought over some bottles that smelled like a mix of liquor and paint thinner. Samael offered her one and she shook her head, hands firmly in her lap. "Sorry, but I already snuck out to hear TDL. If I come home smelling like booze my parents will beat me bloody."

"You never drink?" Loki asked.

"I tried some wine at church once," she admitted. "It tasted like spoiled grape juice."

Samael laughed. "How daring. I suppose by this town's standards that makes you a real badass. Drinking wine, sneaking out, crashing parties… why by the end of the night maybe you can join in on an orgy!"

"Don't be mean now," Loki said. He reached over and clicked his bottle with Samael's and then the two of them tilted them up. To Sam's surprise they guzzled both down in less than minute and then simultaneously belched out balls of fire bigger than their heads. "Wow! Now that's lighter fluid!" He took off his sunglasses and tossed them over his shoulder. "Where's that other bottle?"

Samael lifted it up, smirking. "Too slow!"

"Bastard!" He waved for another one. He saw Sam's face and smirked. "Something wrong?"

Sam could not answer. She was too busy looking at Loki's eyes. Or where his eyes would be if two flames were not flickering in those empty sockets instead. Now even over the party she could hear a soft crack pop of a fire as those twin sparks danced. "Oh my god…"

"Exactly," Loki said.

She looked around at the party. Monsters loomed, laughed, and danced. On the stage The Devas Live stopped playing and one of them went up to the mike. "This song goes out to the creature of the hour! Our lord and master!" The room cheered. They started playing again, their music hypnotic.

" _The moon is full and the color of blood,_

 _The wine flows like the river Styx._

 _The darkest hour of the night is here,_

 _And the devil is up to his old tricks!_

 _In the dark of night we say your name,_

 _King of Hell cursing Heaven's name._

 _Your enemies crushed beneath your cloven feet,_

 _Angels bleeding, babies screaming, ain't that neat?_

 _Scream you damned souls all night long,_

 _Listening to the fallen angel's song!_

 _On this the adversary's night,_

 _Let the good scream in their plight,_

 _Bow before Lucifer's light!_

 _Darkest gods from ancient times_

 _Listen to our evil rhymes,_

 _Dance and sway across the floor,_

 _While we open Hell's dark door!_

 _Spill the wine into to the fire,_

 _Burning blood and flesh on a funeral pyre!_

 _Dancing beneath a full moon's light,_

 _Giving everyone a fright._

 _Pledge your souls to the Devil's might!_ "

The room clapped along and cheered while Sam's mouth hung open. I was just as cheerful and sent the same shiver through her that all of The Devas Live songs did, but she had never heard them sing something like this before. The lyrics were like something off a Goth band, not what you expected from a bunch of nineteen year old girls who dressed like anime characters.

Loki applauded with everyone else as the song ended. "Damn Sam, you got a good group this time. I love how they even named themselves after you. A fun little anagram."

"Yeah well it wasn't that clever," Samael said. Sam turned and looked at him. Her screams of terror were frozen in her throat and if he noticed he was not saying anything about it. "I mean _Save the Devil_ is not that hard to figure out. Now there's this gospel group out of Virginia I could introduce you to that also works for me and they have gotten me more souls than—"

"You're the devil," Sam finally squeaked.

"One of them," Samael said.

Loki leaned where she could see and winked, one of his eyes going out briefly. "Don't believe the hype. Devils are just spirits whose purpose is to evoke evil from inside so that it cannot stay hidden. We are mirrors of the world. Sure we have minds and personalities of our own, but just like the good guys and mortals we're all just parts of the Creator given form by mortal thought who eventually gained our own lives… you know anything about quantum physics?"

"Uh, just the stuff they show on Star Trek."

Loki rolled his eyes. a neat trick in Sam's opinion. "So I guess we can skip the speech on perception and reality. Yeah, he's the devil. Samael, the fallen archangel also known as Satan the adversary and Lucifer the Light bringer and Azazel the djinn raised by angels and rebel of Heaven."

Samael snorted. "You should know most of that crap was made up and I was forgiven thousands of years ago for my rebellion. Like Loki said, I just evoke evil so it doesn't sneak into Heaven. You can't tell who is evil if they never have a chance to show it after all. I mean how do you know if someone is a racist if they never meet a person of another color? Or if a man raised on a desert island would steal gold or kill a man?"

"Yeah, but you gotta work the back story," Loki said. "I mean I'm not trapped in a cave with snake venom dripping in my eyes. That was Odin's BS story to keep Balder and the rest of the pantheon in line. But you have to keep up the story." He turned to Sam. "You see if people stop believing in us we don't disappear or anything, but humans can forget about us. Nothing sucks like being a has-been god. Look at old Mithras and Eostre. Ever since the Christians co-opted their holidays barely anyone knows their names, let alone remembers how to worship them. I'm lucky if people remember me as anything but a comic book villain."

Samael laughed. "True." He was swaying slightly. Sometime when she was not looking four more bottles had been delivered and they were quickly divided between the two.

"You'll get yours one day too," Loki said.

Sam swallowed. "So you don't… you know… drag people to Hell?"

Samael smirked. "Sorry, but these days nobody is allowed to tell humans about the afterlife, good or bad. Maybe I'll drag a soul to Hell or maybe you'd have to deserve it or maybe there is no Hell or Heaven. It could all be in your head. Maybe this whole party is just a nightmare…"

Loki shook his head. "Now you're just fucking with her."

Sam said, "Why can't you tell?"

"Because humans got creepy about it. I mean worship's all well and good when it starts out," Loki said. "Some even still enjoy it but…"

Samael said, "Remember last year when that guy shot himself outside the TDL recording studio? And they found that shrine to them in his house and he had their faces tattooed all over himself? That's just a rock group. Imagine how it gets for us… especially me. I had to agree with Yahweh and the kid Joshua… that's Jesus to you… and even the old gods on that. The shit you people do in our names… we decided after the middle ages that we no longer give any definite evidence of how the afterlife really is. Besides, if they don't like it people just go into denial anyway so what would be the point?"

"I see," Sam said, thinking of her mom. Sitting here talking to them and it was hard to think of them as the devil and an evil god. On impulse she snagged the bottle he was holding and took a sip. "Gah!"

"Hey!" Samael said, but he and Loki laughed.

It burned her throat and made her head swim. Sam coughed and forced herself to swallow. She hoped it was not poisonous. Who knew what gods drank? They were immortal. For all she knew this was some kind of exotic poison mixed with gasoline. It sure tasted like it. She was having trouble breathing and focusing.

"You go girl!" Loki cheered as she handed the bottle back.

"So what about TDL?" Sam asked, her eyes crossing and her voice a rasp.

"Standard deal," Samael said, finishing off the bottle. "Not like the old days." He hiccupped and swayed a bit. "Back in the day I used to have witches. I'd give them powers and beauty for their souls and they would do things for me and just have a freaking ball. Then people started burning them and everyone tried cheating me, asking for immortality or something so I could never claim their souls. They say I'm bad but compared to humans I'm an amateur."

"No kidding. Still they always blame us for what they do," Loki added. "Odin and I both had our own witches… all the gods did. Call 'em priests or a cult. Disciples and followers and heroes." He belched another flame. "It used to be so fun."

"Now there's hardly any challenge in it," Samael said. "I can get a dozen followers by running a cheerleader and football team sign up sheet. If they're especially difficult I can throw in a car. 'Just let me make the team and I'll do anything'. It's so pathetic. At least those girls…" He nodded to the stage. "Made a decent crossroads deal. Like Pan used to do for musicians. Ten years of success at the top of the charts and then they die in an accident at twenty-seven and I get them."

"Really?" Sam asked. Whatever had had drunk was making the world blur around the edges, but this was so cool. She was drinking with the devil! Her friends were going to be so jealous! "Then what happens to them?"

Samael laughed. "That is a secret. Maybe it's bad maybe its good… maybe the whole soul thing is bullshit to see what people do when they think they have nothing to lose. I'll never tell. People only get to know when they die. That's the whole point."

Loki laughed, "Suppose it was bad for sure? Nobody would sign."

Sam snorted. It came out sounding like a pig. "I would. I mean you said you gave power to witches right? I always wanted to be a witch when I was younger. I'd dress up and pretend to fly on a broomstick… and I would be good looking instead of dull leaning to ugly." Neither being contradicted her. "Did they really fly on broomsticks?"

"That's elves," Loki said. "They use wheat stalks."

Sam groaned. "Whatever. Then you grow up and you find out all the magic is just make believe kids stuff. They make you sit in church and tell you all about the devil, but you go home and it's just a freaking story." Her hand was shaking a bit. "I mean I know when I go home tomorrow this is all going to be some stupid dream I'm having because I watched too much TV, ate a lot of cake, and had to sit through another boring Sunday at church listening to father Paul drone on about stuff I was only half listening to."

"Damn you mortals have gotten depressing. In the old days you didn't live long, but at least you made a go of it. If you didn't like it you could pack up and head for the horizon."

"What horizon?" Samael slurred. "They reached the edge of the map. It's… it's going to be years before they figure out space travel. People are waiting in line for the day they can get a one way ticket to a space colony or Mars. If they don't blow themselves up first or poison the planet and make us start all over— again."

"Again?" Sam asked. They ignored her.

Loki said. "You know the problem; we've been too low profile. All those damned rules we came up with about not meddling with free will. It makes them feel all alone in the universe. They never see anything really amazing any more. The occasional miracles and possessions don't cut it. They can do crap like that with a magic kit and the right drugs. Why tell our stories if you can see more exciting things in movies?"

"Even that gets boring," Sam said, leaning her head on Samael's shoulder. Those angel wings were really soft. "Look at me. I'm not pretty or very smart, let alone have any super powers. I don't have anything to do most days. I'm probably going to grow up to be just like my mother and spend my days married to some really nice but not picky guy and baking things all day. Because even if I did leave this town where is there to go?"

"That's pathetic," Loki said. "True of course, but pathetic." He paused. "I have an idea!" He reached over and yanked one of Samael's feathers.

"Ow, what are you doing you jackass?" The fallen angel (or was he some kind of djinn?) snapped. "You don't see me lighting a cigarette off your eyeballs!"

"Aw shut up you grumpy bastard." He picked up a cocktail napkin and then reached over with the feather, pricking Sam's arm.

"Jerk," she yelled and sat up, slapping him. Moving that fast made her head spin. Samael laughed and Loki ignored her, writing on a cocktail napkin with the feather and her blood.

"Let's see… keep it simple. Beauty, intelligence, and powers… there we go. You two, sign here, I'll witness."

Samael laughed and took the feather to sign it. "Ah, sure. I'll do it."

"Sign what?" Sam peered at the napkin. "I can't read this."

""It is Norse runes," Samael said. "I usually use Enochian myself, but it's valid."

"But it's… you want my soul?"

"Look at it as an internship," Loki said. "You get paid with some of the basics and some training and you get an internship working for Sammy here. You even get to travel to far away places."

"Yeah, to Hell," she said. She looked at Samael who shrugged, neither confirming nor denying. It was so hard to take this seriously with Loki talking like a used car salesman. Did he seriously call the Prince of Darkness _Sammy_? Did he think he was Dean Martin?

Loki said, "Look at it this way. It's a possible eternity in Hell… or a life time in Snake's Fork."

The world was fading, but even in her buzzing mind Sam could get a glimpse of her future. It was herself dressed in her mother's clothes. She glanced up at the stage, where five girls were rocking their lives away for the next eight years before their fiery deaths.

She snagged the feather. "I sign here at the bottom, right?"

Head pounding Sam woke up on the floor of an empty warehouse with a beam of death and pain shining in her eyes. She sat up, out of the ray of sunlight coming in through the dirty window and looked around. The sun was just rising. Around her was an empty room with a dusty floor. There were no tracks in the dust except hers leading in from the door. No claw prints from a horde of monsters. No chairs or stage either.

"What the heck?" She remembered the night before. Had she walked through a cloud of marijuana smoke or drunk something offered by some bum? Maybe she had been hit on the head… it certainly felt like it. "Okay I knew it. The whole thing was a dream." She got up. "Aw man…" Her new clothes were covered in dust.

Outside the sun was just rising. Her headache was fading and the chill dawn gave her goose bumps. She checked her watch, her eyes barely able to focus. Her arm almost looked skinny through the blur. A little after seven. Nobody was on the road. So she gritted her teeth and started running.

When she made her way home her window was still open. She climbed through just as from past her door she heard her mother calling. "Sam, wake up! You won't have time to shower if you don't get up now!"

"Coming!" She said as she put the screen in place. She went to her dresser and grabbed some clean clothes, hurrying out and to the bathroom. She could still smell whatever she had drunk last night to give herself those hallucinations. She needed to wash and brush her teeth.

Tossing her clothes on the floor past the bath matt she hurried into the shower and started to wash, scrubbing down hard to get the smell and the dirt out. When she was finished she hopped out and got her toothpaste and brush out, letting her mouth fill with the minty freshness. It was a nice change from the dried out aftertaste of the drink. She could not see her reflection in the mirror because of the steam, but fortunately one of the benefits of looking like she did was that she always looked the same no matter how hard she tried. So while rinsing out her mouth she got dressed and ran a comb through her wet hair.

Hurrying out she saw the covered plate on a TV tray by her door and lifted off the lid. "Yum, pizza."

"Sam?" Jane called again.

"Just snagging my pizza. I'm going to head for school now!" She stuffed a piece in her mouth and hurried into her room, stuffing her homework into her bag.

"Fine," Jane called back. "I have to swing by church this afternoon so I don't know when I'll be back."

"That's cool. I'll probably swing by the library or something." She hurried out the door, chewing on another piece of pizza. She was relieved that she had gotten away with it. Even if it was just a dream it was a heck of a night and the first time she had stayed away from home without going to a sleepover. That was still fun.

It was almost a beautiful sight as she rounded the corner to school.

Sam had a scare when she went to class. First she slipped in and to her seat with no problem, except she saw some of the other kids staring at her. Some looked like they were going to say something, but the bell rang and Mrs. Jones started going through the rows reading out names and checking them down.

"Smith."

"Here."

"Sanchez."

"Here."

"Yancey."

"Here."

"Redgrave."

"Here." Her voice sounded weird, almost musical. The teacher looked up, startled and looked down at her. "Yes?"

"Miss Redgrave?"

"Yes." She felt anxious.

"You're… you look… what happened to you?"

Oh god, were her eyes bloodshot? Had she slept on something that left a mark on her face? She knew she should have checked the mirror this morning. Before she could panic she pushed the fear down and tried to remain calm. Looking right into Mrs. Jones' eyes. She knew holding eye contact was as bad as avoiding it when you lied, but she could not help it.

"I'm fine," she said firmly. Mrs. Jones did not know what had happened. Sam dared her to say anything. "Everything is perfectly fine Mrs. Jones." She looked around at the other kids in the room, her eyes meeting each one as they stared at her. "Everything is perfectly normal, right?"

"Right," they said as one and turned back to their desks. Mrs. Jones turned back to her list and moved on. After a moment Sam realized nobody would say anything else and she calmed down as things got back to normal.

When she handed in her math test at the end of class Mrs. Jones did not give her a second glance as she checked the answers against her teacher's edition. Sam was surprised as, even though it was a geometry test, Mrs. Jones did not make a single mark until then end when she wrote A+ at the top.

"I'm impressed Miss Redgrave. You even showed your work."

Sam had, she knew. Actually she had finished the test early, almost without thinking about it and used the extra time to read. She did that a lot, but this was the first time almost half the answers did not get red checks next to them. Maybe some of this useless math stuff was rubbing off.

"I'll expect this level from you in the future," her teacher said and handed it back.

"Of course," Sam growled. No good deed goes unpunished.

Stuffing it in her bag she stormed out looking for her "friends" to take her anger out on. She found them grouped around one of the outdoor picnic tables. They were discussing why none of them showed up for the party. Before Sam even said anything she could hear them making excuses to one another.

"Look I was going to go, but my mom caught me sneaking out," Lacey said.

Toni said, "Tony just chickened out and…"

"And she wouldn't go out in the dark without me," Tony said.

Raul told them, "I tried to ask for permission to go to Mike's but my mom said Hell no. She doesn't even like us hanging out at school and I'm still grounded."

Mike said, "It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Dad didn't feel like cooking so he took me and mom out for dinner at _Sizzler_ in Big Tree." Big Tree was the next town over, about twenty miles down the road.

"I flaked out," Janice admitted. "I couldn't do it."

"So that's where you losers were?" Sam snapped. "I was left hanging out in the cold and dark because you all backed out? Some friends you are." Wow her voice sounded weird. What had she done to it? Well like her bloodshot eyes or whatever marks that had caught everyone's attention in class she had to just hope it wore off soon.

The looked up at her in surprise and then angry indignation. "What business is it of… yours?" Janice asked, her voice trailing off when she looked at Sam.

"Yeah," Lacey said. "Who do you think… you… are?" They were frowning, but their eyes kept moving over Sam from head to toe, obviously trying not to stare and failing. The guys all just stared.

"I thought I was your friend. Clearly I was wrong. I mean come on, you all promised to be there last night and I'm the only one who even showed up."

"Who are you?" Mark asked at last. "And why are you spying on us?"

"What do you mean who am I?" They stared at her blankly. "It's me… Sam. Duh."

It was like a cartoon. Everyone's eyes bugged out and they said her name as one. "Sam!?"

"Uh yeah." She waved a hand in front of them. "Something wrong with your eyes?"

"Sam… you… you look…" Tony stammered.

His sister said, "What the hell happened to you?"

"Is there something on my face?" She reached up and touched her face.

Almost instantly she realized something was wrong. Her nose felt smaller and now that she looked she could not see it as well as usual when she crossed her eyes. Had someone cut her up in her sleep? Feeling around her skin was smooth and soft. Not a bump or zit. "What the…?" She turned and scurried off to the bathroom. Bursting through the swinging door she ran to the wall-length mirror behind the sink and froze.

The girl in the mirror was not Sam Redgrave. Oh she had black hair and moved her hand when Sam did, but there the resemblance ended. Her skin was pale like a marble statue and her face was that of a goddess. Looking at her hand she saw that her nails were pink and almost like abalone shell, swirling with rainbow colors. Her teeth, which had fillings before, were perfect and bone white. Pink lips that had a sexy pout that made Sam's knees weak. Her features were beautiful on a level she had never imagined under hair that fell like silk curtains around her shoulders.

She was not fat anymore. All that had been stuffed into her top. Her breasts strained at her shirt and Sam realized she was lucky she had not wasted time trying to fit into one of her bras on the way out this morning. Normally whether she bothered was a toss up, the lumps on her chest not exactly sagging. These things swelled forward and looking down she could not see her toes and for once it was not because of her stomach. Reaching up she felt them and they were perfectly round and stayed up almost as if they were free of gravity. They were very sensitive and Sam gasped at the tingle spreading through her whole body from the brief contact. Pulling open her top she looked at them and saw white smooth swells tipped with nipples like pink rosebuds floating in milk. Three of them.

"Wow… those are new." She gently tweaked the second large nipple, almost like a baby's pacifier or the top of a milk bottle, on her left breast about two inches below and to the side of the other one and felt it harden. "Well… they're real… and creepy in a sexy kind of way." She remembered someone saying once that sex was a lot like art. Done right and it was an act of creation that brought a little more light and wonder into the world. When it was twisted and wrong… well that made it even better.

Working her way down she saw that her pants were ill fitting and loose. Her hips were now beautifully curved over smooth hairless legs that looked like they came off a statue. Slipping off a shoe and sock she saw her toe nails were the same iridescent sheen as her fingernails and her toes were all perfectly straight, like she had never worn shoes. Lifting the leg of her pants she felt skin as soft as a baby's cheek stretched over taut muscles like she had spent her life with a private trainer. They felt so good…

She realized she was turning herself on. Gay, straight, or bi, the girl in the mirror was the type that would make any man or woman go for it except they would automatically assume they were not good enough for her. "Oh my—!" The last word caught in her throat. Her voice echoed in the bathroom. It was almost musical and as beautiful as the rest of her. Sam would have killed to listen to someone with a voice like that, even if they were reading the telephone book.

She reached out to touch the mirror and caught her eyes in her reflection. They were beautiful too, but in a strange way. They were not human eyes. They were cat eyes, only amethyst purple instead of green or yellow. The pupils were slitted and dark, but as she leaned forward she saw that the purple irises that filled them even where the whites should have been glowed with an inner fire. It was like Loki's eyes had been the night before, only if you put purple stained glass in front of the flames.

Her mouth hung open and she caught a glimpse of her tongue. It was silver… metallic and yet still wet. When she stuck it out, the tip spread apart into a twin fork like a snake's. Sticking it out more she saw it slide out and stretch until it was thin and waggling, almost a foot past her lips. She could taste the air and feel the cold and heat around her, even from her own hands, like she could see it. Not in infrared like they showed on TV with the shades of yellow and red over blue, but like sticking your hand next to a fire only more intense.

She sensed more heat behind her. Without turning she glanced up at the mirror. She pulled her tongue back in and closed her perfect jaws with a snap. Toni, Lacey, and Janice stood there. Being the only girls they had been the ones to follow her into the girl's bathroom.

"Sam? What happened to you?" Janice asked.

Turning to look at them she gave a nervous half-smile. "Um… I…" Her lovely voice shook. "I think I may have… sold my soul to the devil." All things considered she still felt it was a little over the top when Janice's eyes rolled up in her head and she fell to the floor in a faint.

Sam managed to drag herself away from her reflection and join her friends back out at he table. The bell rang but she said, "You guys all ditched me last night. The least you can do is stay here and help me figure this out."

" _My mom is going to_ kill _me_ ," Raul muttered.

Sam rolled her eyes. " _I don't care if she beats you bloody. I'm having a crisis here so sit your butt down and help me!_ " Everyone was staring at her again. "What?"

"When did you learn Spanish?" Raul asked.

"What are you…?" She thought about what she had just said. The words moved through her head and she realized they had not been in English. Still she knew what they all meant. She leaned forward, her hands on the table top. "Oh damn it…"

"Eek!" Janice screamed Everyone looked at her. Sam had never really believed anyone actually screamed like that. "Your hands!"

Sam looked down and jerked back. Two handprints were left on the table where she had been. One was on fire, burning white like a firework. A moment later it was out, but that was because the paint and metal top had melted through, leaving a hole shaped like her hand. The other handprint was in a white fern pattern and made tiny tinkling noises, like a window on a winter morning. Around the print icicles were sticking out like knives and needles.

Mike bent forward and tapped it, jerking his finger back almost instantly. "Ouch! That's _cold_!" He looked at his finger tip. It was discolored. "This looks like the time I touched dry ice—!" He was interrupted as the icy handprint cracked and fell apart, the pieces falling to the ground with soft tinkling like glass.

"Sam, are you okay?" Toni asked.

Sam's hands were unblemished. "I think so…" She touched the table again. Everything was fine. "What did I do?"

"That's what we're wondering," Tony said.

Janice swallowed. "You said… in the bathroom… you said you sold your _soul_." They all silently looked at Sam, waiting for her to explain.

"Well last night I snuck out… you know, like we were all _supposed_ to?" They looked guilty. "I went to the party and…" She told them what she remembered. Up until the part where she blacked out right after signing the napkin. "Say what you want, but the devil doesn't skimp on the details. I swear those napkins were made of silk or satin or something."

"You signed away your _soul_ on a cocktail napkin?" Raul's voice seemed to get higher on every word.

"Hey it was written by Loki and the Devil signed it too," she said defensively. Then added lamely, "It was a very nice napkin."

Mike eyes Sam. "You have to admit; whatever she did she definitely got a good deal out of it." He tilted his head. "Hey Sam, are you into three ways with two guys?"

Raul frowned at him. "You skank!"

"Honey, look at her!" Raul did and his lips tightened into a white line. His legs shifted and he looked uncomfortable.

"Will you marry me?" Lacey and Tony asked in unison, both looking at Sam.

"Guys…" Sam said with a smirk… before realizing that nobody was smiling. She could feel their body heat rising too as they looked at her. "Are you serious?" They nodded. "Lacey, do you even like girls?"

"I didn't think so… but damn Sam, you're so hot…" She bit her lip. "Janice?"

Janice was looking away blushing bright red. Sam could see her nipples sticking through her shirt. "Could you… cover your face with something?" She refused to look back at Sam. "I really want to kiss you and I don't know if I can stop myself. It's making me feel icky."

"Seriously?" She asked. Then she remembered the girl that had replaced her in the mirror. If that girl so much as blew her a kiss she was sure she would cream her panties. "With what?"

Tony opened his bag. "Um… here." He pulled out a first aid kit. "We're selling these things in my cub scout troop." He looked down as he handed it over to Sam.

She jerked her hand away when he kept touching her and popped it open. "Let's see… calamine lotion? I could rub it on my…"

"No!" They shouted, unsure what they would do if they saw her putting on lotion.

Sam tried not to smile at her friends' obvious discomfort. All of them were looking away now, the boys all sitting and crossing their legs. If they squeezed their thighs much harder and something would pop. Nobody had _ever_ looked at her like this. Admittedly she was never ugly enough that a guy would say no if she took off her shirt and begged him to take her, but since she was too shy to do anything like that none of them had even tried to "accidentally" bump against her like they did to Janice or Lacey on the bus sometimes. Now even her gay guy friends were drooling over her.

It was also creepy and it occurred to her that teenagers were not known for their self control. There was a daycare and preschool on the high school campus that proved that. So she scanned the kit until she saw a roll of tan elastic bandages. "Janice can I borrow a mirror?"

Janice dug a hand mirror out of her backpack and handed it to Sam. Their fingers brushed and Janice gasped, suddenly looking up to Sam's eyes. "I think I'm about to…" Her lower lip trembled and she started to lean in.

"Jan, now is not the time," Sam said firmly, looking back at her friend's eyes. "Sit down." Janice sat so fast she winced as her butt smacked back into her seat. The rest of them were looking between the two of them with a mix of jealousy and envy.

Opening the mirror Sam caught sight of herself again. She seemed even better looking than she remembered. She felt the same urge Janice must have, to lean in and kiss her reflection. The only thing stopping her was the nagging feeling that she would never be good enough for someone that beautiful to look at her twice.

"Sam!" Her friends were yelling her name.

"Sorry," she said and set the mirror and kit down on the table to free up her hands. Starting under her chin she began wrapping the bandage around her head, covering her lips but leaving a mouth hole, moving up over her nose, ears, and forehead until only her eyes and hair showed. Then she used the metal clips still in the kit to fix it in place. It was uncomfortable and stuffy and felt like she was hiding a work of art. "Better?"

Breathing hard Janice nodded. "I… I don't know what came over me." The others made agreeing sounds. "Could you maybe let me see your face again?"

Stepping back Sam said, "I don't think that's a good idea, do you?" She could feel the heat of their bodies was lowering slightly and the scent of lust she had not realized she was smelling was edging off too. She tossed Janice her mirror back and slid the kit back to Tony. "Okay… can we have a normal conversation now?"

"That voice," Lacey said, her voice purring, but then quickly looked away. "Um yeah… so you were saying you broke in on the devil's birthday party and ended up selling him your soul? Do you… feel alright?"

"I thought the whole thing was a dream," Sam said, tugging down a bit of bandage to muffle her voice a little. "I felt a little hung over, but that's gone and I don't want to drink virgin blood or anything."

"He probably doesn't get it until you die," Mike said.

"Are you sure it was the devil?" Raul asked. "I mean…. how could you tell?"

"Uh… red skin, little horns, wings, hooves, black goatee, named Samael… oh and a guy with fire for eyes said it was him. Should I have asked for ID?"

"Don't get snotty," Lacey said. "I mean it's weird enough that you say you met the devil, but then you say there are other gods there? You'd think that if the devil were real then there would only be him and God…"

"Yeah right," Toni said. "Remember that documentary they had on a few months back Tony? About how a lot of things in the Bible were made up to convert people?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah. They said Christmas isn't even Jesus' birthday and his name was really Joshua and stuff. Who knows what the truth is?" They all turned back to Sam.

She held up her perfect hands. "Hey, don't look at me. I told you, they said nobody is allowed to know about the afterlife until you get there. Apparently people went all stalker crazy about religion so they try to keep it on the down low these days."

Lacey looked at the holes in the table again. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know… should I try again?"

"No," Raul said. "You should… I don't know. Find a church and see if you can repent or something. Maybe we can get father Paul to do an exorcism."

"Well I think she should try it," Lacey said. "At least see if she can control it. I don't want her setting me on fire by accident before she can fix it or whatever."

Sam said, "I did kind of already sign." She looked at Lacey. "If it's permanent I really should probably figure it out." Raul huffed and leaned into Mike, looking angry at being balked and a little afraid. "Uh… so what do I do?" They all looked blank.

Janice said, "Maybe try that tree?"

Sam pointed at the tree with her right hand. "Um… abracadabra? Flame on? Boom!" Nothing happened. "Well damn…" A blast of red and sun-white fire as thick as a telephone pole shot out of her finger and hit the tree, blasting aside the bark and immediately setting it ablaze.

The girls screamed. The guys cussed. Sam stared in shock as the flames quickly spread up the trunk to the leaves.

"Sam, do something!" Someone said. "Use your other hand."

Remembering the ice she lowered her right hand, but kept it pointed to the side just in case and pointed her left hand at the burning tree. "Stop!" Nothing. "Halt! Reverse! Freeze!" The fire covered the whole thing now. The tree was cracking and starting to fall over. If it did it would probably start other things on fire. They were in the courtyard, but there was plenty of dry end-of-the-year grass everywhere. Hellfire was probably pretty hard to put out anyway. "Damn it to Hell!" Suddenly a tornado of frost and snow shot from her left hand just like the fire had. The air temperature dropped from growing sweltering heat to the inside of a meat locker in a half second.

When it hit the tree the whole thing was suddenly blocked by steam, hissing like a thousand angry snakes. Sam and her friends stared until it cleared. When it did the tree was just visible as a twisted image under what looked like a foot of solid ice, distorting what was under it like a funhouse mirror. Up above some of the branches stuck out of the crystalline covering and tinkled in the breeze like wind chimes before falling off and shattering on the ground.

"Whoa…" Mike said. Raul crossed himself and started quickly mumbling a prayed of protection from evil.

After a moment of silence Tony picked his first aid kit off the table and carefully going around Sam walked up to the tree. Shivering he nervously reached out and touched the white box with the red cross against the ice. Then he yelled and dropped it, backing up and waving his hand. "Cold! Cold! Cold!"

When it hit the ground the kit, even though it was made of metal, shattered into a thousand pieces. Lacey said, "You went totally T-1000 on it…"

"Hoarfrost…" Raul muttered. "In the ninth circle of hell where the beast is frozen in ice with the souls of traitors…"

"Sam, do me a favor," Toni said. "Don't cuss."

"Curse," Tony corrected.

Before she could say anything an angry voice shouted behind her and she turned. A security guard in a yellow jacket was hurrying up to them. "What the hell is going on here?" Janice, just on the edge of freaking out, let out a short bark of laughter. Sam looked at her concerned that she may be losing it. "Don't you dare laugh young lady! Who has been playing with fire around here? I saw smoke and flames and… what happened to that tree?" He stared at the ice sculpture that used to be a plant for a second and then looked around. His eyes caught on Sam, standing in front of it and with her face wrapped. He stepped forward and stared into her eyes. "What is going on here?"

Sam swallowed, her gut twisting. "Nothing sir…"

He paused, confusion flowing over his face. "Nothing?"

Taking a deep breath Sam stood up straight. She knew looking directly into his eyes was a give away that she was lying, but she could not help it. God she wished she were a better liar. "I said we didn't do anything. We came out to see what this was all about…"

"You didn't do anything…"

"Unless you think we stole liquid nitrogen and hid it before you came out here, which would be impossible."

"Impossible…" Sam glanced aside at her friends who looked ready to bolt.

The walkie-talkie on the guard's belt crackled. "Ted, you there? What was that smoke?" Suddenly the guard blinked and looked around. "Uh… nothing I guess. Looks like someone was doing a science experiment. There are some kids here, but they had nothing to do with it. They just came out to see what it was all about."

"Are you sure?"

"It's completely impossible." He clicked it off.

Behind his back Mike pointed to Sam and then his own eyes and made a gesture like a hypnotist. Sam blinked. No way… that would be impossible, right? "Sir?"

The guard looked up at her. "What is it kid?"

Sam looked into his eyes. "Stand on one foot." He did. "Jump up and down." Her friends laughed and she looked away.

"What am I doing?" He said angrily. He looked at Sam. "What did you do to me?"

Sam quickly looked at his eyes again. "Go away and forget you ever saw us!" He turned around and marched off, not even glancing back.

When he was gone Janice said, "Oh my god. I… I think you did that to me. When you told me to sit down." She reached down and rubbed her ass.

Sam looked at her, feeling guilty. "I didn't mean to."

"You totally jacked his brain," Mike said. "That was some full on hypnosis shit." Suddenly Sam's friends all looked away from her eyes.

"Guys…" She began.

Lacey said, "Oh come on. Don't be like that." She walked up and then only hesitated briefly before throwing her arm over Sam's shoulder. "Come on, it's still Sam."

"Is it?" Raul asked just as Sam started to sag in relief. "She said she sold her soul. Maybe she did. Or maybe she is possessed."

"Or maybe she's an alien that can read minds," Tony said. "And she's just testing us for something. She sure doesn't _look_ like Sam."

"I'm not…" Sam began. What could you say about something like that. Her eyes definitely did not look human. She had just deep fried and then flash frozen a tree and mind jacked a security guard. If she was an alien of possessed, would she know it? "I still feel like me…" The bell rang. Automatically they stood up, grabbing their bags. Hypnosis was one thing but they had been trained for years what to do when the bell sounded.

All of them mumbled something about being in trouble for missing a class. Lacey said firmly. "Look, until she does something to hurt somebody—" Sam flinched at the suggestion. "—I say we stick around and try to help her figure this out. After school we can all go home and do some research or something and we can meet at school tomorrow and see what we found out. Okay?" Everyone agreed. "Until then lets just keep our heads down until we figure it out. Especially you Sam."

"That sounds like a deal— I mean a good plan." They all broke up and left except Lacey, who still had her arm around Sam's shoulder. "Um, Lacey. Do you… still want to sleep with me? Because you're holding my boob in your hand." As soon as their friends looked away Lacey's fingers had curled around Sam's breast and lightly massaged it while she looked away, pretending it was not happening. She seemed interested in feeling the two nipples on that side.

Lacey's thumb moved over Sam's shirt and nipples, making her gasp. "I couldn't resist… you're so hot…"

Sam felt warm breath in her ear and the brush of a tongue. She moved back, away from Lacey, who looked both hurt and like she wanted to chase her and rip her clothes off. Sam held up her hands defensively and Lacey paused. "Wait… um… I don't know…" Her response to her own reflection was one thing, but Sam had never had sex and was not even sure if she wanted her first time to be with a boy or girl. Certainly she did not want to do it in the schoolyard between classes.

Lacey however, was getting turned on again, staring at Sam. "I don't know if I can stop myself… you smell and feel so good and I want…"

"What if I accidentally freeze or burn you?" She said desperately.

Lacey paused at that, glancing at the tree. Then she moved forward a step. "I don't care!"

"Lacey," Sam said loudly. "Look into my eyes." Without even thinking Lacey looked up into Sam's purple flickering eyes. "Get control of yourself and calm down." She broke the eye contact and Lacey took a deep breath.

"Sam I… I'm sorry. I don't know what… okay I know what I was doing but… I can't believe I was acting like that. You're just so beautiful…"

"Lacey!"

"Right," she said, backing up to the table and grabbing her bag. "Right. Um… we can… we can talk later. I… have to get to class." She gave Sam one last longing look, bit her lower lip, and then hurried away.

The rest of the day was a little easier, but no less disturbing. Many people asked about her bandages, but a quick look in the eyes and a sentence and suddenly they were convinced everything was fine. She even made her History teacher call the office and explain that she had borrowed Sam and her friends to help with something and that it was not their fault they had missed class.

What really got to Sam was the realization that the changes in her were not just her body or her strange new powers. Like her first class she found herself answering all the questions on her tests easily and skimming through the text books like she was reading the credits of a movie. Everything was clear in her mind and she remembered all of it as her pen moved over the papers like an ice skater showing all her work and giving what she knew were completely correct answers.

In French class the teacher, Mr. Colbert called on her as she stared at her fingernails, watching the rainbows ripple over them. She clearly was not paying attention to the lesson so he said, " _Miss Redgrave perhaps you would care to pay attention before I give you detention?_ "

" _Sorry sir, I was thinking about something. As you can see I'm not exactly in the best health today…_ " She only just realized that she was speaking flawless French at that moment, but kept going with, " _I hope I did not give you the impression that I am not paying attention in class._ "

Mr. Colbert goggled for a moment and so did the other kids. In English he said, "Uh… forgive me Miss Redgrave. Clearly you have learned more than I thought…" He hesitated, but since Sam had already given him the "everything is fine" speech, he went back to teaching the class. Glancing at her book Sam found she could read the French words as if they were printed in English. Mentally she tried translating them to German, Navajo, and Swahili and found it just as simple to understand the words. The same thing happened later in computer class when she looked at binary and other computer codes in some of the big books her teacher kept on the shelves and did not even use for school.

Later in PE they started off running track. Sam easily out paced the other kids and found she was not even a little out of breath. Aside from her hangover she realized that even though she had run home that morning she had not been particularly tired. On impulse she did a cartwheel. It felt as easy as skipping and she kept going. After five laps when she was on her hands she flipped up landing on her feet then flipped back onto her hands. She did this again and again until she realized she was at the finish line and landed on her toes like a ballerina.

The whole place was quiet. Looking around she saw the gym teacher was marking down her results, since she had given him the talk, but most of the other students had stopped running to stare at her. Some started towards her, obviously full of questions. The teacher blew his whistle and called for everyone to follow him to the gym for volleyball. He picked her to be a team captain and all of them immediately clamored to be in her side, even though Kylie, the other captain, was head of the school's actual volleyball team.

They won 21 to 0, every point scored by Sam herself in ten minutes before the teacher asked her to sit down and give other people a chance. Sam hurried out after class as soon as possible to avoid the others. She had over heard Kylie and her friend Heather discussing asking her to join the team.

What if she accidentally lit someone on fire? Might be worth it. It had been fun doing things that would make an Olympian sweat like she was taking a stroll. It made her feel powerful and amazing. Looking at her new face in a mirror was one thing. A part of her kept expecting it to be some kind of trick. Like someone had glued a mask on her face or replaced the mirrors with some kind of television with CGI images.

Having her body respond to even impossible thoughts and actually being able to easily breeze through languages and tests she normally struggled with was a whole other thing. It was not like it magically appeared in her head exactly. Well it was like that with the languages. With the math and other things it was more like things she always knew but did not understand made sense. She tested it, working up from algebra to geometry, trigonometry, and calculus. The numbers danced in her mind and made perfect sense, just like the angles had when she did her flips or hit the volleyball.

In her last class of the day, which was Mrs. Cayman's music class, she decided to really go for it and see what she could do. Normally she sat in the back and gave a few sour notes on the flute she had picked at the beginning of the year because Cayman would not let her pick a tambourine or triangle.

"Miss Redgrave," what happened to…"

"I'm fine," Sam said quickly, giving her the same orders as the others. "Don't worry about me." Mrs. Cayman nodded, her eyes glazing over a little. "I'd like to borrow your violin and could you please pick out the most challenging piece of music you can for me to play?" She broke the stare and the old woman hurried to obey.

Some of the other students gave her odd looks, but Sam ignored them. What were they going to do? A few made disparaging comments about her musical skill that Sam also let pass.

Taking the violin as Mrs. Cayman opened her personal music sheet to the violin solo of _Scheherazade_ , one of the most challenging solos in the world. Sam hesitated for a moment and then began to play, the bow gliding over the strings as easily as air.

When she stopped the room watched her, most of them open mouthed with shock. Mrs. Cayman was smiling hugely and had tears in her eyes. "That was amazing." Then she turned back to the class, despite the huge loss of time, and began teaching as if nothing was wrong. Sam was grateful, knowing that if she had started declaring Sam a virtuoso or something a lot of the others would have gotten jealous. As it was she distracted them and left Sam alone and able to again make a clean escape at the end of class.

None of her friends were waiting for her after school. Were they too afraid to show up? Or were they all at home or the library, actually doing their promised research? After all, they had just found out something about the world that was amazing. Gods, demons, or aliens, they were involved in something that nobody in Snake's Fork could possibly understand.

Without thinking Sam hurried straight home, fear eating at her gut. She expected her mother to be there up until she arrived and saw her car gone before remembering that she would be out until later in the afternoon. Hank would not be home until almost dinner if then. Often he was later.

She closed the door and took a deep breath, leaning against it. It felt firm and solid and separated her from the outside world. A world where people were suddenly different from her. Where she not only could but had to bend other people's minds to her will and where one of her best friends was half a step from humping her leg like a dog in heat. Scratch that, all of her friends had wanted to. Lacey had been the only one to try, followed by Janice, Mike, the T-twins, and even Raul who had been after men since his second testicle had dropped. If she had not covered her face how long until they all threw caution to the wind and started an orgy?

Just thinking about what she looked like now made parts of Sam that had previously only been of interest to her and her gynecologist clench tight and tingle expectantly.

She was distracted from these thoughts when the cordless phone on a nearby table rang and she picked it up. "Hello?"

"Samantha Redgrave? Do you know who I am?"

She recognized the deep voice. Sam had gotten used to her situation so found herself being smart. In an impression of the Church Lady from old _Saturday Night Live_ episodes she said, "Could it be… _Satan_?"

He laughed. "Finally. I don't know what happened last night, but I just woke up in a swimming pool filled with Jell-o and hookers in Brazil. Set is barfing up anchovies in our hotel room, Loki is hanging naked from the outside balcony, and Lilith is in a pile of random people… not that she's not used to that. I just found my pants with a napkin written in ancient Norse and with my signature, yours, and Loki's on it in blood. I have the right girl, right?"

"That's me."

"Looking at this thing… how drunk was I? I remember last night but… I cannot believe I signed this. My lawyers are going to have a fit when they see it."

Sam shrugged. "Beats me… uh, Master."

He laughed. "Let's just stick with Sir or Boss. Americans aren't good with groveling."

"You and Loki were drinking whatever that was like soda. I just had a sip and blacked out right after writing my name on the napkin. Since I woke up… things have been weird."

"Shit. I was so hoping this was some kind of trick." He paused. "I am going to break a hoof off in Loki's ass, I swear." There was some laughter in the background and a string of profanity from the phone. "Okay let's see… looks like you got elemental power over fire and ice… typical Norse gods. That's all they think about."

"Yeah I burned and froze a couple of things by saying d— uh, the D word. Fire from my right hand and ice from the left."

"Mmm, well shit. At least it's got a command word so you don't kill people by accident. And let's see… you have the gift of tongues…"

"The what? Is that why my tongue is all snake-like and silver?"

"No, that's just to mark you as mine. I could have branded three sixes on your ass if you prefer, but a silver forked tongue is standard. That and a third nipple. The gift of tongues means that you can understand, write, and speak any language."

"Oh, yeah? I noticed that today. My French teacher almost had a coronary. What else?"

"Increased intelligence and unmatched skill at whatever you try… no omniscience thankfully. You'll have to actually learn about things to understand them. So if you want any real skill with magic spells you'll have to learn it… though with a genius level intellect and a photographic memory you'll still have a definite edge— what the hell? Magical hypnosis on mortals?" His voice quieted as he turned from his phone to yell, "Loki what is it with you and vampire movies?" If there was an answer Sam did not hear it. "And physical perfection."

"What does that mean exactly? Because I have to say I am freaking gorgeous. Even with the weird extra nipple you gave me and the purple eyes. I had to wrap my face up and use that mind control thing to keep my friends from raping me."

"Wise move. Uh… just how pretty did I make you?"

"I make supermodels look like the before pictures for weight loss commercials."

"Wow… I must have gone overboard. Basically the way it's written here you are now the most beautiful woman on Earth by current standards, you're going to stay eternally young, and in perfect health."

Sam considered this. "So I can't die?"

"Not exactly. Think _Highlander_ rules. As long as nobody cuts your head off or rips out your spine you'll heal and return to your current state. You can't get sick or pregnant, though if you trade body fluids with someone with a disease and do not clean before doing someone else _they_ could get it. Physically you cannot even cut your hair because it would grow right back to whatever length it is now, but no further."

"So much for the salon. How do you collect my soul? Do you already have it and I'm just an unholy monster or what?"

"When you die. Don't get any ideas. Until then I still own you."

"So," Sam said. "What exactly do you get out of this?"

There was an animalistic growl that sent a shiver up Sam's spine. "Not much. It says here you're to act as my personal assistant on Earth… used to be the position of 'devil's handmaiden', but basically you're my… gopher. I send you to do something and you do it. You can choose how it gets done, but you have to do it at any cost."

The way he said it made Sam remember who and what she was talking to. Even if, as he said, he had been forgiven by God or whatever this was still the devil… and a member of the Heavenly Host. In the Bible the good angels were down as bringers of plagues, killers of the first born of Egypt, destroyers of cities, and all around people you just plain did not want to piss off. Lucifer was the most powerful among them and not exactly known for his laid back and reserved nature. If he felt like it he would order her to throw away her life. A lifetime of sitting in church on Sunday meant that Sam's new and improved brain was dredging up all kinds of information about her new boss.

"So we were both kind of drunk… what if we wanted out of this?"

Lucifer paused. "I don't break deals. If you want out… first you would have to renounce me and all my works and then dedicate the rest of your life to serving what people usually call 'the forces of good' in an active way. I mean take the oaths to become a nun and mean them with every part of you before spending your life in the service of a god. Not just say it because you want to save yourself from eternal damnation. Then it becomes a matter between me and whoever to decide which of us wants you."

"And I would lose everything I got from you? You couldn't just consider it a gift for my birthday?" He did not answer. Sam looked at her fingernails and thought about her day. Smarter, faster, stronger… the six-million dollar woman. Plus the kick-ass superpowers and that face. "I might be willing to work with you for a while… see how it goes."

Samael chuckled. "Yeah, well it sounds like you aren't quite ready to dedicate your existence to the service of others. Call it a hunch. If you don't mean it, it wouldn't work. Since the contract is binding apparently you meant it when you signed. Just being drunk and not meaning it would not work." Sam nodded even though he could not possibly see her. Or could he? "So… I'll have to deal with this. I'm a busy guy and frankly I rarely even bother with Earth these days… but we signed. I'll get in touch with you when I have a spare moment or something for you to do. Could be a while, since I can do most things myself. Until then… do what you want." The phone clicked off.

Sam stared ahead for a moment. She remembered what Loki and Samael had said at the party. That an evil god or angel's job was not to cause evil, but bring it to the surface. They did not make serial killers go out and kill people. They handed them a knife, pointed out the cute girls, and said, "Have fun." If the guy did it that was on them. A fine line, but she could see the point. Being good when you had no chance to be evil was not good, just laziness. Life and death probably did not mean much when dealing with souls.

Sam had just been given beauty that rivaled Helen of Troy, who had started a war that cost thousands of lives and lasted years. Add that to physical and mental abilities that possibly dwarfed anyone who had ever lived, the power to control minds, and the ability to kill with a word. That was some knife.

How hard would it be to go wrong and abuse these powers? Especially knowing that her soul was already in Satan's pocket and that doing so could not make it any worse?

Every movie and book she had read where someone made a deal with the devil flashed through her head. Demons whispering in people's heads, crawling inside and making them kill, or just being friendly and manipulating people. All written by humans, which meant that the fictional demons were probably even nastier than the real ones would have been. How much time could you spend watching humans at their worst before it colored how you saw them?

Sam remembered all the dark thoughts she had ever had. Anger at being insulted for things that were not her fault like her looks, her inability to run fast, or just things that pissed her off. Like when she had realized she would not get to hear TDL at that party. She had broken all the rules and then signed away her spirit. What else was she capable of? What would she have done in her life if, like they had said, she had the opportunity and was not trapped in Snake's Fork?

Then again… all those things were over, weren't they? As long as she stuck to this deal she was beautiful, skilled, smart, and powerful. It was still unfair, but it was unfair in her favor. Except that she had to be Satan's lapdog for eternity she was on top of the world. Wasn't that what he supposedly offered Jesus out in the desert?

How she got things done was up to her.

The phone was starting to beep from being off the hook too long when the front door opened and her mother walked in. "Hey sweetie, I'm— what happened to you face?"

Hanging up the phone quickly Sam said, "I have something to tell you mom. Last night I…" She swallowed. "I snuck out of the house and went to that party."

"Were you hurt?" Sam loved her mom for that.

"No I… uh… talked to a guy there. He asked me if I'd be interested in making a deal…" She stopped. Okay a little too much truth. She worked for the Lord of Lies. Time for a little creative truth management. "A new type of plastic surgery. I had tried a little something to drink and I said yes."

Her concerns about Sam's wellbeing set aside, anger swept across Jane's face. "Are you insane?!" She moved forward, dropping her purse and keys on the floor. She reached out, tugging at the bandages.

Sam swatted her hands away. "Don't!" She built on the lie quickly. The last thing she needed was for either her mother or father to see her new face and have the same reaction as her friends. "The bandages need to stay on a while."

"God I… I don't know what to say…" She started to move like she was going to slap Sam across the face, but the bandages made her balk. "Who did this? What kind of person would do major plastic surgery on a minor? Especially one impaired with alcohol!"

"I don't remember his name. They dumped me back in town just before dawn and I rushed home and then out to school. I told everyone that it was a birthday present."

"Go to your room. I… I can't even look at you right now."

Sam scooped up her backpack and hurried out of her mother's sight. Once there she took a few minutes to work on her homework, knowing that she would get perfect scores on all of them. She was tempted to redo them and try not to stand out so much, but then figured that a straight A report card might be the only way she would ever see daylight again. Not that she needed them, she realized. An interview with a recruiter and a bit of eye contact and she would be able to go to whatever college she chose on a full scholarship.

It was creepy how that thought suddenly made it all real. Going through school she had been able to ignore how massive this all was, mostly because it was easy to make her teachers and peers treat her like everything was normal. Now being yelled at by her mother and wondering what her father would say when he got home it all seemed like it was really happening. She could not imagine using her powers on her parents like she had her teachers. It would be like slapping her mother back if she hit Sam for cussing. Something theoretically easy that she just could not do.

Rather than worry about it she went to her computer and pulled up a search engine, deciding to do research on witchcraft and the devil and other deals like hers. Almost immediately she got a blank white page with the standard warning about the content being blocked. Something she had gotten used to with her mom, but now it was just annoying. Unlike porn this was actually harder to get around since there were not as many alternate terms.

Even with her new skills high school computer classes did not teach anyone much about hacking. So there was no way to even guess how to reprogram the computer to get around her mother's password.

Then something occurred to her. Switching over she began typing in Portuguese and quickly found a search engine. Her computer was programmed to block English words only. Why not? Nobody in her family spoke anything but English and bad English. Until now. Scanning the pages so fast that she could barely believe she was absorbing them, Sam read though page after page of information.

There were thousands of different Hells, most of them having nothing to do with fire. They were dark and relatively boring places ruled by various kings, gods, and demons whose job was not so much to torture as to just keep people there. Unless they did something to seriously piss off a god or something and got special attention. Even then it was always temporary until the person worked off their karmic debt to either reincarnate or go to paradise… though that could take centuries depending on how much sinning you did while alive. Apparently good and evil deeds when you knew for a fact there was an afterlife counted for less than when you only suspected.

When they finally did work it off they got reborn again and again until they were good enough to get into heaven… which involved being reborn as a saint or god. Unless your parents were gods this was _not_ easy. Especially if you lived for hundreds of years and did a lot of evil and got a larger debt than most like say, a witch. Do enough evil and at best you became a demon or devil and might never get into Heaven. Eternity was not over yet so whether there was a way around that was iffy.

As for those who signed on with the dark side of their own free will… the details were sketchy. Nearly anything was possible, though Sam seemed to get a better deal than most. Lots of musicians for example were in what was known as the "Twenty Seven Club" where they were supposed to have made a deal to become famous and then kicked it early. Sam guessed Elvis and Michael Jackson either did not make a deal or made a different one.

The witch deals were really rare and not talked about too much. The witches had their own thing going on and those who found out tended to burn them to death first and not ask too many questions later. Most of the time unless someone caught someone fornicating with a god or devil in the forest there was no way to tell if they got their powers through a deal or by learning about magic like anything else. Truthfully historians doubted that if there were witches back then that few if any of them were killed in the witch trials. Accusing someone of witchcraft seemed to be the catch-all way to legally kill anyone people just did not like and take their stuff. Especially old people who had become a detriment to the village by living too long and having too much land or women who refused to be a slave and sex toy. Oh and anyone who did not want to be a Christian, was the wrong kind of Christian, asked the wrong questions, or got caught falling asleep during a sermon. Then you had the perfect excuse to torture them into a confession and then kill them in the most painful way possible to "save their soul". Because apparently "Thou shalt not kill" had exceptions.

Sam suspected that this was more of the devil's "evoking evil" thing. Set up a target and see who kills them the hardest in the name of god, maybe just to avoid suspicion falling on themselves. It would be too easy. Like fishing with dynamite.

The problem was that that sort of thing did not end in the middle ages. Around the world people were arrested and prosecuted under the law for witchcraft or, more likely, simply lynched by a righteous populace on every continent. Admittedly a lot of them had done some things to deserve it, like in Africa turning into crocodiles (witnessed by police) and eating people or for some reason stealing their genitals, but still there was not a lot of evidence and trial involved. Some would do it if they suspected a girl of adultery or being gay. "Witch" apparently covered a lot of things, most of them just people doing crap that pissed other people off.

"I wonder if Samael would like a TV show idea," Sam muttered. " _CSI: Witchcraft_." They could do tests on what type of eye of newt was in the cauldron and DNA tests to figure out which royal dignitary the frog used to be. Ballistics tests with magic wands. Crystal balls instead of security cameras.

Or maybe there really were witches and wizards out there like in the _Harry Potter_ books that did things like that. The devil…uh, the boss… had mentioned learning magic. How many authors had made deals with the devil? Hadn't they suggested that when those books came out? Somehow now it seemed less funny.

She heard her father's truck pull up outside and turned off the computer, leaning back and listening. Hank came through the door, kissed his wife, and then there was a lot of mumbling. Some surprised yelling. Then quieter words from her father. Something about "When we were her age…"

Then the footsteps as he came to the room. A knock on the door. "Samantha?"

"Come in dad."

The door opened and he looked at her. Sam saw his eyes widen and her dad whistled low. "Well, don't we look like the Egyptian exhibit?"

"Yeah, well believe me, I need to keep these things on. I did a dumb thing dad. Something I… don't know if I could take back if I tried."

"So your mother tells me. Sneaking out, getting drunk, and then going off to God knows where for a face lift?"

"It's a bit worse than that…"

"Are you pregnant?"

"No!" She tilted her head. "Actually one of the side effects of this is that I probably never will be." She saw her dad frown. "I made a choice dad. The consequences won't sink in for a long time but… I take full responsibility."

Hank sat down on her bed, his hands clasped in front of him. "I wonder if maybe we were too sheltering. If we had gone out of town and let you experience the world… maybe you would learn to deal with things like temptation and wrong choices."

"I think it's more the other way around," Sam said. "Seriously dad, what's the worst that you and mom could do to me over this? I wanted to see my favorite band live because there was no chance it will ever happen again. Are you going to take away my CDs? Keep me in from the library? Ground me so I can't go to my friend's house to sit around doing nothing and have to stay here doing nothing?"

"Safe small town life…"

"Small town prison." She said that without thinking.

Hank nodded. "I guess I can see that. When I was your age… well let's just say that I knew what it was like to get drunk. You seem to have shaken it off better than me my first time. Then I met your mother and got my job and… here we are."

"Dad, there's something about this you should know. Well there is a lot, but only some of which I can tell you. I'm not wearing these bandages to heal."

"Then why?"

She leaned forward. "Dad, I don't look anything like I did. I look… fantastic would be an understatement. Do you see my eyes?" He peered through the bandages and gasped. "That's not the half of it. Look at my hand… my hair…" He did. She reached out and touched his hand. "Dad… I am afraid that if you see what I look like, you're going to try to… you know. Bang me."

"I would never…" He paused, feeling the softness of her hand. She quickly let go. "Samantha? Are you taller?"

"Probably. I haven't measured myself yet. But I can tell you right now that under my clothes and these wrappings… yikes."

"That's impossible… no way you could they do that in one night."

"Depends on who does it." She shook her head. "You're going to have to trust me on this dad. And understand why I need to keep covered for now. Day and night. Maybe until the end of the school year when I move out or longer." She laughed. "How's that for irony? I get pretty and I can't show anybody."

"Samantha, what did you do?" Now he looked afraid, both of and for her. She could read people's body language as easily as she could French. It was strange how all of this seemed to inspire so many conflicting emotions in people.

"I told you, I made a choice."

Samantha ate dinner in her room. Her mother did not say anything, but Sam insisted. In the meantime she slipped out and went to the garage for some things she had not used in years. Not since arts and crafts in her elementary school days. Liquid starch, strips of cloth, and some strings mostly along with some watercolor paints hidden under a lot of things at the back of her closet.

When she was done she had wet strips on her face as she crawled into bed. It would dry by morning. Half her mouth would show and her eyes through the holes and her hair. Sort of a Phantom of the Opera look. Enough to show people that under it she was pretty, but covering more than enough to keep it a mystery. Enough that they would not gang rape her. She hoped.

At around eleven, she woke up to a creak of her door opening and footsteps moving to the side of her bed. She opened one eye and found to her surprise that she could see perfectly, even in the total darkness. Another benefit. Plus wherever she looked there was a purple circle, which she realized was probably from her iris. Her eyes were literally glowing.

Sam's mom was holding a small flashlight. Not turned on yet. Then Jane gasped. "Your eyes…"

"Mom, what are you doing?" She said calmly, as if she didn't know.

"I… I wanted to see… what you look like. Your father said you told him you said that you look good but…" Did she think Sam was disfigured? Or was she just curious?

"Mom, I look good. Too good. I need you to promise me something though."

"What?"

"I need you to swear on everything you hold holy, that you will never try to look at my face again." She smiled in the dark. "I was never that good looking to begin with mom. It won't be a great loss."

"Samantha you were always pretty to me…"

"Yeah, well now I'm drop dead gorgeous. Listen to my voice. Look at my eyes… they are glowing in the dark aren't they? Just nod… I can see you perfectly."

Jane nodded. "How?"

"Mom…" What could she say? Sam never could lie to her mother. "You believe in the devil, don't you?"

"Yes," Jane said quietly.

"Do you believe he's irredeemably evil?"

Jane pressed her lips together. Then shook her head. "Anyone can be forgiven. If they ask sincerely."

"If they're really sorry." Her mother nodded. "And if they aren't? Lying about it would be wrong, right?" Another nod. "I love you mom. I made a… deal. I was a little drunk, but I knew what I was doing. I was looking down an eternity of possible torment or a lifetime in Snake's Fork and… I signed a contract with the guy whose birthday party it was. I know it's wrong and shallow and I've handed my fate over to someone else for fleeting things… but I did it. And while I may regret it later I can't apologize now because I'm not sorry."

Jane was crying. "Sam what you're saying… what did you do?"

"You want it spelled out? I signed a contract. In blood." She lifted up the mask on her face. It was mostly dry. She set it on her nightstand. "Mom, set the light down for a moment." Jane did. "Now, feel my face."

Sam watched as Jane's fingers moved forward, searching the area her daughter's voice came from. Finally she touched Sam's face and began feeling around, her eyes narrowing trying to see anything but Sam's glowing purple eyes. She could not, but she could feel the sharp features and smooth skin. Nose, lips, ears… and then they pulled back and she let out a shaking breath.

"If it makes you feel better, he doesn't collect my soul until I die. Until then I just… run errands."

"Errands?"

"We haven't discussed the finer points yet. How things get done… I think that's up to me. He was sort of busy when he called me this afternoon… and recovering from his party with his friends. He was really drunk and I got a really great bargain out of him."

"You're telling me that… _he_ called here?"

"Goodnight mom."

Stepping back and moving carefully Jane said, "Goodnight sweetie. I… I love you."

"I love you too mom. I hope you believe that. I still feel like myself and I still love you and dad."

"Will you come to church on Sunday?"

"Uh… if I can I'll try." Provided she did not burst into flames on the way in. That was not said out loud but it was implied by her tone.

Jane made her way out the door and Sam took a deep breath. "Well it's not exactly a letter from Hogwarts but…" She heard a click out in the hallway and then the sound of three buttons on the phone.

Grabbing her new mask and holding it over her face Sam jumped out of bed and flung open her door. Her mother was on the phone, staring at the wall. "Hello? Yes, this is Jane Redgrave. How did you know… oh. Right."

"Mom!" Sam shouted, aghast. "Tell me you did not just star sixty-nine the devil!"

Hank was woken up by the yell. Or at least he came out of the bedroom. He looked between his daughter and his wife who was talking on the phone. He looked at Sam. "The devil?"

Sam shrugged. "Kind of."

"Look I know she signed but…. Well that's not fair. Yes I know who I'm talking to. No I… yes I taught her promises are important… what do you mean this wasn't your idea? Who is Loki? Well yes, but being drunk is no excuse… she's only seventeen… yes… yes… well that's not going to happen now is it?" She paused. "No I… no. Yes. I… understand. No I don't think you'd do that… yes, I trust her. She's a very smart girl. What do you mean especially now? Mind my own business? She's my… Yes. Okay. Okay. Sorry to intrude on your time." She hung up and turned to Sam and Hank.

"Was that…?" Hank asked.

Sam sighed. "Yes."

"And you… _really_?"

" _Yes_."

Jane nodded. "Apparently." Hank looked around. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for Rod Serling or those hidden camera people."

"Mom you seem to be taking it well," Sam said. "I was kind of expecting screaming or an impromptu exorcism."

"Because I believe that everyone will be in Heaven… eventually. Especially after actually talking to… him. It does renew my faith in God… and in teenage stupidity." Sam tried not to show how much that last bit stung. "How do you plan to wear that mask at school? Won't your teachers and classmates say something?"

"Trust me mom, I'm more than just a pretty face. I got the complete bonus package for my uh… lease. All the add ons and some things that don't usually get offered much these days." Sam looked between them. "Can we go to bed now and pretend this never happened?" Her parents shared a look. "Or we could stay up tonight and have beer and eat ice-cream until dawn."

"You are never drinking again," her mother said. "And you're not getting ice-cream tonight. You go to bed. In the morning we'll decide if you can go to school of if we lock you in the basement for the rest of your life."

Glad that they at least did not seem concerned that she would sneak into their room and suck out their souls, Sam yawned and turned to go back to bed. Behind her she heard her mother mutter, "Besides, I think I need something stronger than beer."

Sam secured her mask firmly with several strings before going to breakfast. When she did there was food and her parents pointedly did not mention the night before. Though she did catch them glancing at her. From time to time. Also her father was home instead of rushing off to work before she got up. Little things that had a big impact.

"So if I broke my back and ended up in a wheel chair," Sam said. "Would we pretend that didn't happen too?"

"As much as possible," her mother said sitting down to her own plate.

Hank nodded. "You have to admit Sam, this isn't like you have a drug problem. You're the only one who can help yourself with this. Your mother and I discussed it and frankly we do not see what we could do for you. All we can do is support you… which in this case I don't think we _want_ to do. You understand?"

"So I get to handle it myself?"

"You and God," Jane said. "Until then well, you still have school and chores and your father still has work to do."

"Later. I was feeling a little under the weather this morning," Hank said. Sam did not mention that she could smell scotch on him and her mother or that their eyes were bloodshot. "We can talk more this afternoon when my head stops pounding."

It was almost like magic. She had sold her soul and now the house was back to normal again like it never happened. Sam had not even had to force the issue, which was a relief. Sam finished her breakfast, kissed both her parents on the cheek, and bid them a fond farewell.

"Take out the trash when you get home," Jane called as she walked out the door.

"Okay," Sam said

She was actually looking forward to school today. Even if the teachers from the day before had shaken off her mind control she could just do it again if she had to. Whatever had been done to her brain and body besides the superficial meant that all her classes would be a cakewalk and she could imagine herself getting a full ride to Harvard or something. In _The Omen_ movies the antichrist had become president or something, though Sam did not like to think of herself as being that evil. A minion of the devil had to have some standards.

All of these thoughts distracted Sam enough that she never saw who snuck up on her until she saw the flash of the gag come over her head. Then there was a bag over her head. Before she could scream her hands were yanked forward and heavy chains were wrapped around her wrists. From the sound of it a large lock clicked into place.

Someone speaking Spanish said, " _Is this her? Are you sure?_ "

" _Yes papa,_ " A familiar voice said.

"Raul?" Sam tried to say. What came out was more "Aoo?"

Bound and gagged Sam could not do anything as she was yanked forward and banged her shins on the bottom edge of a car door. She ended up flat on the backseat and her legs were shoved in just before the door slammed and the vehicle surged forward.

Sam was just beginning to wish she had included Houdini-like escape abilities as part of her deal. If she survived that was going to be one of the first things she worked on. Her bruised shins felt fine a few moments after lying in the car, but the chains holding her hands together pinched. She would have asked her captors to loosen them, but they did not even bother to help her sit up.

The car finally stopped and the front doors opened. Outside she could hear a lot of people mumbling. Finally a voice drawled, "Now hold on a moment there José Sanchez. You said we needed to proffer charges. You never said anything about tying her up like a hog and dragging her out here." Bobby Roberts, the town sheriff.

"She's a witch Bob," a gruff and heavily accented voice said. He sounded different in English. "A bruja with the evil eye. You talked to her teachers. What did they say when you asked about her."

"They said everything was fine."

"Yeah and that's all they said when you asked about her, right?"

"Well yeah, but come on. You don't really think she's…"

"Did you see the tree? Burnt nearly to ash and then frozen inside ice that's still cold enough to freeze the ground around it. Her handprints burned and frozen into that table. If we asked nicely she would have done the same to us."

"Maybe, but this still don't seem right."

"Look it up. This is how you're supposed to handle a witch under the law. She's already tried to possess and seduce people."

Sam felt her throat tighten. She had come across that in her research the day before. Massachusetts still had witch laws on the books. Inhumane, dangerous laws that were technically still legal.

"Isn't there some test? This could all be some joke."

"Well if it isn't the dumbest thing we could do would be to let her go now."

"Because you pissed her off by snatching her. We could have tried talking…"

"You don't talk to a minion of Satan, Bob. She'll get in your head and mess you up. Put a curse on you and your family. Or seduce you into giving up your soul to El Diablo. I don't intend to end up burning in Hell."

Sam wanted to argue, but she had to admit he had a point. She could do the mind control thing and would have if she had known this was coming. As for seduction… in Sanchez's dreams! Though ultimately she did not actually know what the devil's plans for her were. Was she going to go around like a used car salesman and get people to sign away their souls or end up getting sent out to seduce politicians and priests? That was what witches were supposed to do. Sam was not sure she could let some creepy old man paw her.

"So let's do a test," Bob said.

Sam's blood ran cold. Everyone knew the kind of tests you did to see if someone was a witch. None of them were pleasant. She started struggling and trying to escape again, moaning loudly through her gag. Man it was a good one. She wondered what sort of freaky things Raul's dad did that meant he knew how to gag someone like this.

"You sure she can't get out of there?" So much for the voice of reason. Despite his doubts Sheriff Roberts sounded scared.

"Iron chains and I covered her mouth. My son says she had to speak to use her powers. She can't control anyone unless she sees their eyes. I think if she could get out, she would have by now."

 _Damn right_ , Sam tried to say. Unfortunately thinking the word did not seem to be working. Her mask was pushed up on her face now too, squishing her nose.

"Look I am not planning on hurting a girl on the basis of a frozen tree and the word of some teenagers…"

"Nobody expects you to. I just want you and your men to keep an eye on her. I've got some friends waiting at the church. We'll get father Paul to test her before we do anything else."

Bobby paused. "Well… okay. Just no jumping the gun here. This ain't the dark ages after all."

They broke up and then the car was rolling again. Sam wondered if God was listening. _Look, I know I signed on with the other side, but I haven't actually_ done _anything bad. So don't you think me bursting into flames just as I walk into the church is premature?_ Boy did she hope so.

When the car stopped Mr. Sanchez came around and opened up the door by her head and yanked on the chains holding her wrists, pulling her out. "On your feet. You either walk in or I'll drag you in."

Without any choice she got her feet under her and started walking. It was a familiar path. Her mother had dragged her to church all the time, though never literally. Sam gritted her teeth as she started up the stairs and shook a little when she heard the church doors open. As she stepped inside she did not feel any kind of burning sensation. No booming voice came down from above to condemn her.

What she did hear was some mumbling as she was led through the room past the pews. She had never actually been up to the front of the room where the pulpit was. Her mom had always taken her a few rows back, starting when she was a young girl and might get distracted or throw a tantrum. You shook the priest's hand on the way out by the door. Still she was marched up the little stairs by the candles, her steps muffled by the thick red carpet. Then she was twirled and pushed down into a chair and more chains were wrapped around her.

José called out, "Is everyone ready?" There were affirmations. Suddenly the bag was ripped off.

Sam had to shake her head to get her mask to fall down from her head so she could see and then again to get some of her luxurious locks out of her face. Across the room she saw several dozen people, all of them in ski masks and sunglasses. It was like a Klan meeting.

People gasped when they saw her face. She heard comments like "Impossible", "Is that really Jane's girl?" and "Wow… if that's a witch then sign me up." The last resulted in a man who she was sure was Mr. Oliver, one of her neighbors from across the street, getting slapped by the woman sitting next to him. Sam almost laughed, but the gag was still in place.

"José are you sure about this?" Father Paul said. Sam looked over and saw him standing there, the only man in the room without a mask on. He held a Bible in his hand, a small gold cross with a Jesus image on it, and there was a goblet on the table next to the burning candles under the huge cross on the wall.

"Paul, look at her eyes."

The kindly old man who Sam had known her own life looked at her face and gasped. Partly from her beauty as his eyes traveled over her face. He let out an animal-like groan deep in his throat, though Sam doubted anyone in the pews could hear it. Then he saw her eyes and took a step back. "Mother of God!"

"See?"

Paul took a deep breath and looked away. "Let us not jump to conclusions. You said you had witnesses?"

Sam saw someone move and saw four familiar shapes. The wide shoulders in a football jacket were Mike's. So the smaller figure with him was Raul. The other two she recognized by their clothes and pale hands. Tony and Toni had worn those same outfits so many times before. Behind them sat adults that were probably their parents, encouraging them to step forward. None of the four would look directly at her.

"Well?" Paul said. "Speak up."

"She… yesterday at school that… girl there came up and said she was Samantha Redgrave," Raul said. "She told us she made a deal with the devil to become a witch. That she snuck out to that private party they were having and that it was a party for the devil. Then she started… doing things."

"What kind of things?" The priest asked.

"Well she… she shot fire and ice out of her hands. She burned through the table and then she set a tree on fire and froze it. When the security guard came by she looked into his eyes and made him forget that anything was wrong." He swallowed. "And she even made me and my boyfriend…. well I've never really liked girls and neither has he but… well all of us really… felt attracted to her."

Sam glared at him and tried to speak, but still could not. She tried to slip free, but the chains were tight. Still she hoped her eyes conveyed how much of an ass kicking her "friends" were due when she got loose. Hadn't it been Raul who said traitors were condemned to the deepest pits of hell and frozen in ice?

"The rest of you saw this?" Paul asked, when she settled down. Nervously the other three nodded. "Hmm… well then. Perhaps we should test her. She certainly looks different than when I saw her on Sunday and that seems unnatural. Wouldn't you agree Bob?"

The sheriff rubbed his gray haired and balding head. "Well I got to say I don't spend much time in church. A man needs a day off after working all week. But if anyone in town looked like that before, I'd have noticed." Several people laughed. "Them eyes scare me, I got to admit. Especially after we checked the paperwork on the permits for that party and well, we can't seem to contact anyone involved. They paid in cash and seems none of the phone numbers they gave work and the addresses weren't real either."

Paul nodded. "I see. That is strange. To think the devil would come here to our little town. It's unbelievable."

Mr. Sanchez said, "Just see if you can do anything Paul."

Father Paul swallowed and looked at the parishioners and then at Sam again. Sam eyed the room, almost positive that her parents were not there. She was half surprised that they had not organized this thing. Then again maybe that was not so surprising. Her parents loved her. She was feeling betrayed as people she thought of as her friends and neighbors sat there judging her, but they would not do this.

She was also glad to see that at least Lacey and Janice were not involved either. Maybe their families did not really believe in the devil? Sam had never seen them in church. She hoped it was more that they did not intend to turn against her. She felt a pain in her heart as she saw again Raul and the others she had trusted with what was happening to her.

Finally the priest came forward, dipping the fingers of his right hand into the goblet and then flicked the water at Sam's face. Sam flinched, blinking it out of her eyes, but did not start melting. Paul and Mr. Sanchez watched for a delayed reaction before Paul opened the bible and held out his tiny cross. "Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name…"

The kidnapping/prayer meeting went on for an hour. Father Paul flipped through the Bible looking for any references that might involve banishing the devil, calling on the grace of God, saints, or angels. As he went on José Sanchez seemed to get madder and madder that Sam was not writhing in pain or crying.

"I don't think this is working," Paul said, closing the Bible.

"The devil is strong in her," Sanchez said. Sam was surprised he was not questioning Paul's faith. From the look on his face, so was the old priest. Then again the town liked the old man and would grumble. "Clearly this is because she gave herself to him willingly rather than being possessed." The worst part, Sam realized, was that so far José had been spot on about everything. For all she knew he was right about this too.

"How can we tell?" Someone asked.

José smiled nastily. "There are several ways. My grandmother told me all about brujas growing up. There are many of them in places few suspect." He leaned over to look into Sam's eyes, his sunglasses reflecting her image back at her. "One way to test a witch is piercing and bloodletting. You take a spike and poke her all over and see how fast the blood stops flowing."

Sam paled. Not just because he was right, if what she had been told was true, but because nothing in her experience led her to believe that she could not still feel pain.

"Or you can try trussing her up and throwing her in a pond or river. Witches float and cannot drown."

"That seems a bit far," Bob said. "You're saying if she dies she's innocent and if she doesn't…"

"Better to risk one wicked life than to let her endanger our families," José snapped.

Sam shook her head, eyes wide. She kept trying to talk. She was crying now, feeling helpless and scared as this psychopath loomed over her. Bob, perhaps swayed by her beauty or tears, said, "Sounds like she has something to say."

"You can't…" José began.

"Didn't you say these glasses should protect us? Your boy there even said she had to look in a man's eyes to control them." He paused. "Look, how about we blindfold her and then let her speak."

José grunted. "Fine, but you have Dan there keep his gun on her and if she starts giving anyone any orders he puts the whole clip right between her eyes."

"You alright with that Miss Redgrave?" Bob asked.

 _No_! She wanted to shout. Sam glanced around until she noticed another police uniform. He still had his nametag on. Dan Taggert, deputy. He was already reaching for his gun. Sam really was not fine with that either, but since she needed to speak or go crazy, she nodded her head. A moment later a tie was wrapped around her eyes and her gag was carefully removed.

"My word," Paul said. "Look at her tongue. It's silver! And forked."

Sam gritted her teeth and mentally cursed again. She should have gone for the 666 ass branding. "I…" Crap, what could she say? Her first instinct was to threaten them. Maybe claim that if they hurt her that Satan would curse them or something. She wished she could. But the image of Deputy Dan and his revolver standing ready to shoot made her pause. So she asked herself what her mother always said to when she was in trouble: What would Jesus do?

So she tried the truth.

"I'm guilty. You don't need to test me. Mr. Sanchez is absolutely right. I sold my soul to the devil to become a witch." People muttered and chatted, uncertain whether to believe her. Then again they were already sitting in church holding a real live witch trial. Sam did not exactly feel like trusting them. "But I haven't done anything wrong. I mean it's been a day. I haven't hurt anyone or cursed anybody. Even burning that tree was an accident."

José's voice seemed to soften. "That is good to hear Samantha. You were always a good friend to my son, even when he has had… difficulties." _He's gay you asshole. He stood up and said Mike was his boyfriend. Can't you?_ Sam kept quiet, not wanting to antagonize him. "For confessing your sins I am certain that God will forgive you and let you into Heaven." She started to ask him to let her go when the gag was roughly shoved back into her mouth. "Build a pyre!"

"Rtdhphk!?" Sam tried to scream.

"What for?" Sheriff Roberts asked.

"The only way to cleanse her spirit is to burn her body so that her soul may ascend to Heaven and be judged by God. If she is sincere in her confession of her sins she will be forgiven. If not then she is still a danger to us all and will bring down the devil's wrath upon the town." Around him the sounds of the room seemed to indicate agreement. Sam felt anger well up over her fear. These people were accusing her of being evil, but here they were going to burn her to death for something that was none of their business.

"Burn her! Burn her! Burn her!" The chanting grew, getting louder as more people joined in until they were shouting at the top of their lungs. Yep, she was definitely in trouble. In retrospect this was pretty much what had happened to Jesus too. Maybe she should have gone with the lies and threats after all.

As she was unchained from the chair and yanked to her feet Sam wondered if this is what Satan had in mind by evoking evil. Maybe it had been a set up from the start, not to get her souls but those of her friends and neighbors. Maybe Sam would go to Heaven, unlikely as that seemed, while by murdering her half the town would condemn themselves to Hell. How long would it be before they turned on her parents? On other kids? Each other? Witch trials tended to snowball. Probably why the devil did not do this sort of thing any more.

At least she had confessed and so far Sanchez had been right about everything else. Though the thought of reaching the pearly gates did not help that her new and improved brain was telling her that living people did not cook well or fast or that there was a chance that her new perfect body probably would not die as fast as a normal person and would probably feel the whole thing until her nerves were completely burned away. Seriously an eternity as the devil's bitch seemed way better than the next hour that José had planned.

She felt fresh air and sunlight on her face. Crap, what must her parents be thinking? Would her teachers still be in the "Sam's fine" zone and not bother reporting her missing or had the school already called and they were wondering where she went?

José shouted, "Everyone get as much firewood as you can… Max is that a chainsaw? Good. Go over to the park and tear up that old gazebo. Marianne, see if you can go get some gas from the station over there—" Suddenly he was interrupted by a blast from a shotgun.

Sam's heart was in her throat and still pounding on her chest before she realized the bullet had not hit her. A loud and angry voice snarled, "Step away from Sam now or I swear to God we'll blow your brains all over that church!"

"We mean it!"

Lacey and Janice. Sam's heart soared. From the sound of it her friends were not abandoning her.

"Drop it sheriff. You too deputy."

"Don't!" José shouted. "They're under the witch's control."

A gun cocked loudly and Janice said happily. "Maybe Mr. Sanchez. Do you think that makes it more or less likely that we'll kill every last one of you if you don't do what we say?" They only response was silence and the click of guns hitting the pavement. "Now why don't you step away from her? That's it."

Lacey said, "Sam, just walk forward slowly towards my voice. Everyone else stay nice and quiet or us poor possessed girls might get twitchy."

Sam walked quickly. Her body moved easily even without being able to see. In only a few steps she was grabbed and the blindfold ripped off, followed by the gag. She breathed out. "Oh man, am I glad to see you two."

Janice smiled, though she kept looking down the sights of her gun. "Well when you didn't show up for school I asked around. Apparently Mr. Sanchez has been calling all over town since last night, talking some nonsense about a witch trial."

Lacey nodded. "Then when we realized that the rest of our friends never showed up…" She shot a glare over Sam's shoulder. "We decided to come down and investigate. We peeked through the window and saw what they were up to so we went to my house and got my dad's guns and borrowed my mom's car while she was having a nap." She jerked on the chains, but they were firmly locked in place. "How do we get these off?"

"Sanchez has the key," Sam said and turned back to the crowd.

José snarled. "I won't—!"

Sam shook her head. "I don't need it. Damn!" The chains burned like wood and fell from her wrist, a burning puddle of liquid metal even before they hit the ground. Her hand and wrist were unblemished. "Well look at that. Guess I didn't have much to fear from being burned after all."

People screamed and started back towards the church. Sam cursed again and pointed at the door with her left hand. It froze over in a heartbeat. Some people tried anyway, but jerked away before even touching the freezing cold, their skin already turning blue.

"Quiet!" Sam shouted and around them the people went silent. Deputy Dan moved towards his gun a split second before Sam pointed and it was encased in ice. He jumped back, terror in his eyes. He and several other people had wet themselves. "All of you… hypocrites! Murderers! You were going to kill me! Stand around this church and inhale the smoke of my burning skin! You accuse me of being evil for making a deal with the devil while breaking one of the ten commandments."

"Suffer not a witch to live," José snarled.

Sam snapped back, "Thou shalt not kill!" She walked up to Mr. Sanchez. Raul stepped forward, getting in her way. Without pause she pushed him aside into Mike's arms and kept going until she was face to face with him.

Someone moved to her side as if to attack her. Sam could feel his body heat without even turning to look. A bullet bounced off the ground near his feet. One thing you could count on in Snake's Fork: people knew how to shoot. Especially since Sam knew Janice's father, a mechanic, had really wanted a boy. The girl could hunt and fix a car engine.

Lacey said, "Now let's all just stand still and let the lady talk. I should warn you my friend here is a good shot, but I've barely held a gun in my life more than a couple of times. They make me nervous and I always jump when I hear them fire. There's no telling who I might hit if I pull the trigger." The movement stopped.

Sam reached up and ripped the mask and glasses off of José's face. Sam had known him her whole life. This man had held piñatas for them to hit when Raul's birthday came around. He had been the voice of reason when his son announced that he was gay and dating a football player. He ran an ice-cream store and always gave her and the rest of Raul's friends extra scoops when the weather was hot.

Now he stood there, a look of contempt on his face. In Spanish he said, " _You don't scare me witch._ "

" _Yes, I do_ ," Sam answered in the same language, surprising him. " _You tried talking these people into killing me. You did not even attempt to talk it out. And like sheep they followed you._ "

" _You are an abomination in the eyes of god and need to be destroyed!_ "

Sam could argue with him. Explain that she was not evil or that he had just misunderstood. But what would be the point? Nobody here would listen. Besides, wouldn't he get much more satisfaction out of it if he was right? In English she said loudly, "Fine, you want an evil witch, you got it." Staring into his eyes she said, "Never speak again." Before he could even respond she swung out with her fist in a blow so perfect that ancient martial arts masters across the globe would have applauded.

José Sanchez's nose practically exploded in blood and snot, spraying over Sam's hand and his shirt. Sam stepped back as he fell to his knees, clutching his face and with tears streaming down his cheeks along with the rest of it. His mouth opened wide in a scream, but no sound came out. He rolled over onto his back, mouth wide, but no matter how much pain he might have been in as the blood sprayed between his fingers, he could not express it with his voice.

Sam turned and walked away. Off to the side Raul shouted, "Papa!" He ran to his father's side. Sam looked down as he used it shirt to try stopping the blood. He looked into Sam's eyes, from behind his sunglasses. "What have you done?"

"A lot less than all of you deserve," Sam said. Mike started towards her and Sam spun to look at him. He stopped and began shaking. Sam walked over and reached out, wiping her hand clean on his clothes. He fainted back, landing on the church lawn. She looked past him to where Tony and Toni stood hugging each other in fear. "You're pathetic." They did not answer.

Sam looked at Father Paul and the sheriff. "You two should have known better. Do you really think it was me God was testing today?"

"Maybe," Paul said. "You may be right Samantha. Perhaps it was us on trial for crimes against God and not you."

Sam looked around at all of them. Some looked angry. Others afraid. A few speculative, as if thinking over her words or simply waiting to see what she would do next. She realized she had been a fool when she left the house that morning, imagining going to school in her little mask and living out life as if nothing had changed. Like life was going to somehow be normal and she would put the other night behind her like it never happened.

She was a witch from Hell. People had seen the proof of it with their own eyes. They feared her now, but how long until one of them in fear for their lives or their children's souls would do this again? Next time would there be a trial or would they just shoot her? Seal up her house and set it on fire? All in the name of God.

"Let me make one thing clear," Sam said. "I am leaving town. I am not coming back if I can help it. But if any of you hurt my parents… if you so much as ding my mother's car while she's shopping for groceries…" She held up her hands, aiming at the sky and shouted, "Damn you all to Hell!" Fire and ice flew up into the sky from her hands and collided over the church in a thunderclap.

A black cloud formed instantly, spreading fast as she poured more and more into it. Black and dark until lightning began flickering. A bolt struck the brass cross on the church's roof, melting it and starting the roof on fire. People stared at shock until first sized chunks of hail began falling, hitting some like fists, breaking the windows of the cars in the parking lot. They all scattered, running away screaming in all directions.

Sam was almost hit with one and jumped aside. She rushed back to Janice and Lacey who were looking impressed. "You two mind giving me a lift out of town?"

"Aren't you going to tell your parents what happened?" Janice asked.

"We'll call them from the road," Sam said firmly. "I think I'll be better protection for them as an unseen threat than I will be when those people get home, get their guns, and come looking for me, don't you?"

Lacey looked at her friend. "Lady has a point."

"One thing though," Sam said. She grabbed her two friends by the front of their shirts and pulled them forward. She kissed both of them at the same time and then let the girls go. "When we're out of here and we find a nice hotel, I'm going to have sex with both of you. Loud, messy, and completely uninhibited until you pass out from exhaustion."

Lacey and Janice were stunned for a moment, then glanced at each other. The looks on their faces went from surprise to a bit of jealousy, and then huge grins as they slapped each other a high five. Sam laughed and hopped in the back seat. "Let's roll bitches. Got enough gas?"

"A full tank," Lacey said, getting behind the wheel. She started to car and pushed down the gas pedal, tires screeching as the car zoomed forward.

Janice paused. "We… we can't come back here can we?" Sam looked back at the church. Sheriff Bobby was retrieving his gun while watching them as they turned the corner and went out of sight. "Are they going to put like… an APB out for us?"

"I doubt it," Sam said, facing forward again. "I doubt any of the other people around the state are going to take 'suspects fleeing witch trial and attempted incineration' as a valid reason to arrest us."

"As if they could anyway," Lacey said. "I mean, she's got super powers. That was awesome Sam."

Janice nodded. "Yeah, for the work of the devil that was pretty cool."

Sam sat back. "You two sure you want to help me? I mean I am on the side of Satan."

Lacey shrugged. "We're probably going to hell for something anyway. Couldn't hurt to have a friend on the inside when we get there, right?" She glanced over her shoulder. "Hey, want to see how long we can go eighty before a cop stops us and you leave him standing in the street thinking he's a chicken?"

Sam laughed. "Maybe later. Right now I don't feel like trusting my life to a teenage driver. I escaped death by fire once today."

Lacey stuck her tongue out. "Spoil sport." Still as they left town she slowed down to the speed limit.

Janice looked back at her nervously. "Are you really going to…?"

Sam smiled and reached up, grabbing the edge of her shirt in her hands. She lifted it up, flashing her breasts at her friend's slack jawed face. She lowered it before Lacey could see though, so they would not end up in a ditch. "You saved my life. What do you think?"

Janice gulped; her throat suddenly dry. Without taking her eyes off Sam she told Lacey, "Drive faster."

 _The Deva's Live_

Devil's Birthday Edition

 _Song List_

 _Dogs Go To Heaven, Rock Stars Go To Hell_

 _Bow To Lucifer_

 _To Hell and Back_

 _Witchcraft_

 _I Sold My Soul For This?_

 _Midnight Orgy (Instrumental)_

 _Fallen Angel Blues_

 _A Thousand Paths To Tartarus_

 _My Demon Lover_

 _Fire and Brimstone_

 _Pissing in Holy Water_

 _The Snowball's Last Chance_

 _Light of My Afterlife_


End file.
